Exhibit links man's family to UDM's past

A Grosse Pointe man’s discovery of a 100-year-old Detroit Free Press article led to the exhibit on display at University of Detroit Mercy’s McNichols Campus Library and may have a unique family connection. 

The exhibit, titled “1923 Art Exhibit Fundraiser at the University of Detroit,” features more than a dozen paintings by late Detroit artist Pauline Locher. The paintings have been in Brian Owen’s family for nearly 50 years. Locher was one of 39 artists who participated in a fundraising art exhibit at University of Detroit 100 years ago to raise money for scholarships.  

The fundraiser was held around the same time that Owen’s grandfather, Rocco A. Barzone, attended U-D. Owen, 48, believes that his grandfather benefitted from one of the $135 scholarships funded by the exhibit.  

“Somebody contributed to these scholarships for the University of Detroit. My grandfather was an Italian immigrant, and there’s no way his parents would’ve been able to afford full tuition,” Owen said. 

Owen’s parents purchased Locher’s Detroit home in the late 1970s and later discovered several of her old paintings inside its attic. They've remained in Owen’s family since, moving from house to house.  

A deeper family connection to the paintings was discovered earlier this year as Owen attempted to learn more about his grandfather. 

“I got a free subscription to newspapers.com when I signed up for my Ancestry account, and I started taking advantage of it,” said Owen, who works as a real estate developer and investor in Detroit. “One day, I looked up Pauline Locher, and I came across that article from the Free Press in 1923 that tied the paintings to the University of Detroit.” 

According to that Detroit Free Press article from May 1, 1923, more than 400 paintings and etchings were displayed in the fundraising art exhibit at U-D's former Jefferson Avenue campus. 

Owen felt compelled to share Locher’s paintings with Detroit Mercy because “they have significance in this neighborhood.” He also views them as a symbol of the community helping his grandfather and other students with their education. 

Owen contacted Detroit Mercy’s Marketing & Communications department about the paintings and the exhibit from 100 years ago and was put in touch with Archives and Special Collections Librarian Pat Higo. She worked with Owen to put together an exhibit of Locher’s paintings for the McNichols Campus Library, which will remain on display in the lobby until Nov. 10. 

The 100th anniversary of the fundraising exhibit and historical connections made for a special story. 

“The University connection to an art exhibit for scholarships and Brian's personal connection to the University, plus the 100th anniversary of the exhibit, it just all seemed to come together,” Higo said. 

Owen has fond memories of his grandfather, who he says worked as an usher at Calihan Hall in the 1960s and 1970s and was close friends with Titan Hall of Famer and former Athletic Director Lloyd Brazil. Barzone passed away when Owen was 12. 

“He was my favorite human,” Owen said. “My one wish would be to have an adult interaction with Rocco Barzone, so I feel like this is probably as close as I’ll ever get to that. I’d love to tell him about this. ‘Hey grandpa, look what I’m doing at your school.’ He would be proud.” 

Months after contacting Detroit Mercy, Owen visited the McNichols Campus Library in mid-October to see the exhibit with Locher’s paintings. Seeing the paintings displayed for the first time as he waited to enter the lobby stirred emotions in Owen, who plans to bring his parents to the McNichols Campus to see the exhibit. 

Owen describes the entire experience — from discovering the Free Press article from 1923 and seeing the paintings displayed 100 years after the fundraising art exhibit — as “serendipitous.” 

“You hang onto something because you know they’re important in some way. My family, we all just agreed that it was our duty to save them or store them somewhere,” Owen said. “They’ve never been displayed, they’ve never seen the light of day, but we all saw the value and beauty of them enough to know we’ll figure out something to do with them one day. 

“This was the result of just hanging onto them because we knew that they served a greater purpose. This just came out of that.” 

 — By Ricky Lindsay. Follow Detroit Mercy on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Have a story idea? Let us know by submitting your idea.