TALLAHASSEE, FL – Secretary of State Glenda E. Hood announced today an exhibition of paintings by Ferdie Pacheco. The exhibition entitled “Champions” will be on display in the Old Capitol Gallery from April 15, 2005 through July 7, 2005. This exhibit is sponsored by the Florida Center for Creative Aging, a program of the University of South Florida.

“The Department of State is honored to partner with the Florida Center for Creative Aging to bring this exhibition to the Old Capitol,” said Secretary Hood. “Ferdie Pacheco’s bold colorful works offer a wonderfully unique perspective on some of our state’s most colorful heritage.”

“Champions,” Pacheco’s retrospective of his own life in painting, represents a wide array of styles and subject matter. From his muralist portrayals of Ybor City during the jazz age and the great depression to his series of famous faces painted with his inventive fauvist style, Pacheco’s work is as colorful as his life. Utilizing rich colors and bold expressive brushstrokes, he has produced an extraordinary body of imaginative works which can best be described as abstract conceptions of his own rich life experiences.

Ferdie Pacheco is author of the autobiographical account Ybor City Chronicles, the novel Renegade Lightening and of Muhammad Ali: A View from the Corner and Fight Doctor, an account of his life as a physician in the fight world. Dr. Pacheco practiced medicine from 1958 to 1980 and served as Muhammad Ali’s personal physician from 1963 – 1977. He has also served as boxing color commentator for NBC-TV, Showtime and Univision. In 1990, he received an Emmy for writing, producing, and narrating the NBC special “Ali Wins the Title.” Today, in his late seventies, Pacheco continues to produce art that is reflective of his life experiences. Painting remains his passion. His pieces currently sell at the Pacheco Gallery in Centro Ybor, while being exhibited in London, Paris, New York and Miami.

This exhibition is part of the Florida Department of State, Office of Cultural and Historical Programs, Capitol Complex Exhibition Program. For more information contact Erin Long at 850/245-6475 or visit: www.florida-arts.org.

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