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Ybor's Renaissance man
Painter, doctor, boxing expert, author and philanthropist Ferdie Pacheco is opening an art gallery of his own.
By MARY ANN MARGER
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000
Ferdie Pacheco, The Matinee, oil. The setting is a wild dance at the Centro Espanol Ballroom, which the artist describes as “the apogee of our social lives as young adults.” Today it is known as Big City Tavern.
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As an artist, Ferdie Pacheco, Centro Ybor's official ambassador, paints colorful, lively works reflecting the many diverse aspects of his life.
As a physician known as "the fight doctor," he has served 11 world champion boxers including Muhammad Ali.
As an author, he has written many books on topics ranging from the world of boxing to The Columbia Restaurant Cookbook.
As a sports commentator, he has won two Emmys. As a speaker, he gives inspirational and motivational talks on a variety of subjects.
As a man of conscience, he has done medical work and advocacy for Miami's indigent black and Cuban population, largely on a charitable basis.
And now he is expanding into one more area, as a first-time retailer with a gallery in Centro Ybor.
Pacheco, 72, is a Tampa native who grew up in its Cuban immigrant community. His Centro Ybor opening-day duties as ambassador include leading the Ybor Stroll down Eighth Avenue at 5 p.m. today, and introducing a film (which he narrates) for the Museum and Visitor Center at 6:30 p.m.
His paintings, done from memory, bear the colorful and figurative characteristics of self-taught art. But his knowledge in other areas has made up for a lack of formal art training. Influences include French satirist Honore Daumier and Works Project Administration artists Fletcher Martin and Thomas Hart Benton. His medical schooling gave him an understanding of anatomy, which he translates into vibrant characters engaged in daily life. His art and his medical practice are even more closely entwined: to help pay for his education, he sold cartoons.
Centro Ybor is the first stop on his nationwide tour for his newest book, Twelve Greatest Rounds, published by Sports Illustrated. He will be present for a book signing scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, and will also do a reading from the Ybor City Chronicles. Though his gallery does not open until mid-November, several of his paintings will be on display and available for purchase.
Also on view will be Pacheco's original painting done for the cover of Verizon's new Tampa Yellow Pages, based on a Super Bowl theme. A limited number of posters will be available.
When his gallery does open, visitors will be able to purchase Pacheco's paintings, plus books, T-shirts and mousepads of his images as well as photographs by his wife, Luisita. (If you can't wait, check out his Web site, http://www.ferdiepacheco.com.)
Though he now lives in Miami, he will return to the gallery for a November gallery walk, the holiday season and the Super Bowl.
Centro Ybor isn't Pacheco's first grand opening activity. When the Tampa Museum of Art expanded to include the NationsBank Florida Gallery in 1994, 35 of his paintings comprised its inaugural exhibit.
Other galleries in Ybor City:
Brad Cooper Gallery, 1712 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City; (813) 248-6098: Korean artist Cho Kwang Ho, extended through Oct. 31. Cooper, in business in Ybor since 1991, is a survivor of the once-thriving Ybor arts community. In addition to a special showing of the works of Korean artist Cho Kwang Ho (through Oct. 31), he regularly carries works by William Pachner, Erika Schmidt and Mic Knight.
Hoffman Porges Gallery, 1907 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City; (813) 247-2000: The gallery, in a handsomely renovated warehouse, specializes in paper-borne art. It currently features contemporary abstract mixed media paintings on paper and antique French billboard art.
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