Internationally known artist Dominic Pangborn to show never-before-seen works in Michigan
Internationally known artist and entrepreneur Dominic Pangborn is winding down his time in the Motor City as he puts his studio/building on Mount Elliott in Detroit up for sale and prepares to start a new chapter with his wife, Delia Pangborn, as they move to the Philippines.
Before he leaves, Pangborn, the 70-year-old Korean-born artist who grew up in Jackson, Michigan, after coming to this country as a 10-year-old adopted by the Pangborn family, is holding a final exhibition featuring some never-before-seen works from his personal collection at the Ella Sharp Museum in Jackson.
It kicks off Oct. 12 with an evening gala and will be open through December, with his work for sale. Additionally, he has art on sale at Le Shoppe Modern in Keego Harbor.
What an incredible ride Pangborn has had. Along the way, he’s met presidents, entertainers, CEOs and more. It stemmed from his unique creations, including colorful men’s ties, paintings and housewares. At one time, he had stores in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Detroit Metro Airport and other places as his ties were sold at Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue.
He was commissioned to design a guitar for Shakira, the Colombian superstar who used it on her 2018 world tour, which included a stop in Detroit. (Her guitarist, Tim Mitchell, is from Detroit and familiar with his work. She found out about Pangborn and asked him to design a guitar for her.)
And he created a piece for the White House fellowships 50th anniversary in 2014. “It was one of my greatest achievements,” he said. “It was unveiled at the Smithsonian Museum with Colin Powell introducing me.”
Pangborn began dabbling in art as a child and was good, very good. He went to art school in Chicago in the 1970s and, following a similar path as well-known American artist Andy Warhol, became a graphic artist.
Pangborn’s career and business was catapulted by men’s ties he created at his Detroit studio in the 1980s.
But things have a way of changing, including America’s taste in menswear. Tie-wearing dropped off over time as men traded formal workwear for more casual looks.
Pangborn adjusted as he closed his stores and graphic business in 2000 and focused on doing fine arts. His paintings took off as he traveled around the world.
I caught up with Pangborn this week as he’s back in Detroit. He and Delia moved to Puerto Rico in 2022, but a hurricane and other things, including a bout of Guillain-Barre syndrome from which he is still recovering, caused the couple to reevaluate and decide to move on.
“I am getting better,” he said. “I am able to play golf and I’ve been able to paint the last three months. I’m probably at 80% in my recovery."
Creative from the start
His wife came to this country from the Philippines as an exchange student in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and they met in Chicago where she was interning at Chicago Mercy Hospital while Pangborn attended the now-closed Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. They married in 1975 and have a son and two grandchildren who live in Dallas.
“Dominic is our hometown artist,” said Georgia Fojtasek, president emeritus of Henry Ford Allegiance Health in Jackson, who is also on the board of the Ella Sharp Museum. She learned he would be moving to the Philippines and reached out.
“I asked if he’d consider doing a final exhibit here before he left, and he said yes,” she added.
Pangborn had created an ethereal ceiling sculpture and painting montage in the Jackson’s hospital’s entrance in 2019. “It’s Lucite pieces that descend from the ceiling creating the effect of clouds,” she said. “It’s magnificent and one of the most healing environments you can imagine.”
She mentioned his life story as particularly inspiring.
“I was taken with his story (his mom was a farmer in Korea and his father in the U.S. Army),” she said. His birth mom wanted him to have more opportunities and gave him up for adoption in the U.S.
Young Pangborn was not only creative but known for being a hard worker.
As a 16-year-old, he worked at a McDonald’s in Jackson and impressed franchise owner Bob Sigmund so much that he wanted to send him to the company’s Hamburger University, which helps train future franchise owners, Pangborn said.
Pangborn could have chosen that path.
But his father saw creative talents in his son and gave him the option of attending the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Pangborn chose art school and his entrepreneurial path kicked in.
He told me how much the encouragement of adults had on him. Hence, another hallmark of his career — helping young people pursue their dreams. He’s planning to do more mentoring when they move to Bacolod, Philippines, once their Detroit property is sold.
“It’s Delia's hometown,” he explained. “Her three siblings are there. It's an island with population over 650,000. It's a ferry ride from Cebu Island, second largest city. I found a perfect spot up in the mountain Don Salvador Benedicto known as the summer capital. The area has Michigan white pines and Austrian pines, too. I felt as if I was in northern Michigan. I've never seen pine trees in the tropical islands before.”
Dreaming on
Pangborn's going to build their dream home with a studio.
“After turning 70, I felt it's probably my last opportunity to do something new,” he said. “I’ll be working with young people on creative thinking, entrepreneurship. Building a life for themselves and not having to rely on others. Create small businesses for them to learn and carry forward."
As for his own creations, besides his paintings he’s looking at other things, too, like designing products and building materials. He’s convinced there is something else big coming down the road for him but isn’t sure yet what it might be.
It’s that optimism that has carried him through all kinds of interesting and challenging times.
I asked if there was anything he wanted to accomplish before he turns the final page on his Motor City chapter. “I hope one day, one day I’ll have one of my pieces at the DIA,” he said. “That would be incredible.”
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Contact Carol Cain: 248-355-7126 or clcain@cbs.com. She is senior producer/host of CBS Detroit’s “Michigan Matters."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Artist Dominic Pangborn to hold exhibition in Jackson, Michigan
