{{Short description|American artist and philanthropist (1945–2007}}{{Infobox person | name = Linda Pace | birth_date = {{Birth date|1945|04|17}} | birth_place = San Antonio, Texas | death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|07|2|1945|04|17}} | death_place = San Antonio, Texas | alma_mater = Southern Methodist University, University of Texas at Austin, Trinity University | occupation = Artist, food magnate, heiress, philanthropist | organization = Artpace | family = Emma Koehler (great-aunt)<br> Robert Willson (artist) (step-father) }}
'''Linda Pace''' (17 April 1945–2 July 2007) was an American artist, food magnate, heiress, and philanthropist who founded Artpace. She was born to parents who owned Pace Foods and took over the company with her husband Christopher “Kit” Goldsbury, before selling it to Kit after divorcing him.
Pace created Chris Park in her home town of San Antonio, in memory of her son Chris, who died of a drug overdose in 1997.
== Early life and education == [[File:Pearl Brewing Company, San Antonio, Texas, September 2017.jpg|thumb|Her great-aunt's Pearl Brewing Company, San Antonio]] Linda Pace was born in San Antonio, Texas on April 17, 1945 to father David Earl Pace and mother Margaret Emma (née: Bosshardt) Pace.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=TSHA {{!}} Pace, Linda Marie |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/pace-linda-marie |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=www.tshaonline.org}}</ref> Her mother was an artist and parents were the owners of Pace Foods.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrews |first=Scott |title=Current 25: Linda Pace (1945-2007) |url=https://www.sacurrent.com/san-antonio-guides/current-25-linda-pace-1945-2007-2242433 |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=San Antonio Current |date=June 2011 |language=en}}</ref> Her maternal great-aunt was Emma Koehler, the German-American businesswoman behind Pearl Brewing Company.<ref name=":0" />
She attended Travis Elementary School in Monte Vista before starting the private Saint Mary’s Hall college preparatory high school for girls in 1962.<ref name=":0" /> Later the same year, she started studying art Southern Methodist University, transferring to University of Texas at Austin in 1966.<ref name=":0" />
== Adult life == Pace married Christopher “Kit” Goldsbury on June 16, 1967.<ref name=":0" /> They had two children Margaret (Mardie) Marie and Chris.<ref name=":0" /> She attended Trinity University while working as a home maker, graduating in 1980 with a degree in art while Kit worked at Pace Foods.<ref name=":0" />
After her parents amicably divorced, they named Kit as the president of Pace Foods.<ref name=":0" /> Pace and Kit bought Pace Foods from Pace's mother in September 1982.<ref name=":0" /> The year earlier her mother married Robert Willson.<ref name=":0" /> From 1982, Linda used her art to direct marketing campaigns at Pace Foods, resulting in corporate growth.<ref name=":0" /> Pace launched landscaping company Green Expectations in the 1980s while volunteering at the San Antonio AIDS Foundation.<ref name=":0" /> She divorced Kit in 1991, and sold him her share of Pace Foods.<ref name=":0" /> He later became a billionaire after selling the company to the Campbell Soup Company in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Karlis |first=Michael |title=Three San Antonio residents make Forbes' annual billionaires list |url=https://www.sacurrent.com/news/three-san-antonio-residents-make-forbes-annual-billionaires-list-28656390 |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=San Antonio Current |date=14 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
Pace later had a brief marriage to Dick Roberts and worked with her mother at her mother's San Antonio’s Southwest School of Art and Craft (later known as the Southwest School of Art).<ref name=":0" /> Pace learned to weld at the San Antonio Art Institute; her metal sculpture ''Red Project'' was displaced in the San Antonio Museum of Art in 2001.<ref name=":0" /> [[File:Artpace san antonio.jpg|thumb|Artpace]] Pace served the board of directors of the San Antonio Art Institute (from 1989) and the National Council of the Aspen Art Museum.<ref name=":0" /> She launched the Pace-Roberts Foundation for Contemporary Art in 1993, the organization was renamed as the Linda Pace Foundation after her death.<ref name=":0" /> Through her foundation she founded the art museum Artpace in 1995 in a former Hudson car dealership premises.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-07-03 |title=Artpace Founder Linda Pace (1945–2007) |url=https://www.artforum.com/news/artpace-founder-linda-pace-1945-2007-15519 |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=Artforum |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 1997, following the death of her son Chris Pace, she created the one-acre Chris Park in his memory.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Linda Pace |url=https://www.rubycity.org/linda |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=Ruby City |language=en-US}}</ref> Chris died of a drug overdose.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Agresta 0 |first=Michael |date=2022-10-06 |title=Ghostly Presences Haunt the Art of "Tangible/Nothing" in San Antonio |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/ruby-city-linda-pace-tangible-nothing-san-antonio/ |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=Texas Monthly |language=en}}</ref>
== Death and legacy == thumb|Ruby City Pace died of breast cancer on July 2, 2007.<ref name=":1" /> Her collection of 1,400 pieces of art, owned by the Linda Pace Foundation is on display in the Ruby City, museum, funded by the Linda Pace Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rindfuss |first=Bryan |title=New Ruby City exhibition explores the Linda Pace Foundation collection through a fresh lens |url=https://www.sacurrent.com/arts/new-ruby-city-exhibition-explores-the-linda-pace-foundation-collection-through-a-fresh-lens-29783868 |access-date=2023-02-09 |website=San Antonio Current |date=6 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pace, Linda}}
Category:1945 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Philanthropists from Texas Category:20th-century American artists Category:20th-century American women artists Category:American metalsmiths Category:Artists from Texas Category:People from San Antonio Category:Southern Methodist University alumni Category:University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni Category:Trinity University alumni Category:American women founders Category:American organization founders Category:American business executives in the food industry Category:Museum founders Category:Trustees of museums Category:Linda Pace Category:20th-century American businesspeople