Pamela Stafford

Pamela Stafford is an American Portrait Artist born in Rural Retreat, Virginia in 1946. She is best known for her award winning work “New Hope,” the winner of the 2002 mural scholarship award by the Abbey Foundation. Before dedicating her life to art, she was a prosperous model and fashion designer. She currently resides in Manhattan where she paints portraits and gives private oil painting lessons."'

Early life

Pamela attended high school in Central Florida, where she was president of the FHA (Future Homemakers of America). [Griffths, Patti. “Wildwood Girl Sewing Up Fashion Career in New York City.” Ocala Star Banner. July 9, 1978.]

After High School, Pamela attended the Chicago School of the Arts, Clairol Institute of New York and the Fashion Institute of Design to learn fashion design.

Marriage

Pamela moved to Manhattan in the 1970’s and has resided there for at least part of the year ever since. In 1982, she married Dr. Elliott Kuritzky, a resident in Internal Medicine at Beth Israel Hospital. Dr. Kuritzky graduated Magna Cum Laude from UCLA, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa in the UCLA School of Medicine [ “Pam Stafford to Wed” Ocala Star Banner. October 12, 1982.] Dr. Kuritzky died of cancer at age 29 at Mt. Sinai Hospital on August 15, 1983, just a year after wedding Pamela Stafford. [ “Obituaries.” New York Times. August 18, 1983. ] Due to the mishandling of his body, Pamela sued Riverside Chapel, a New York City funeral home, for $10 million. [ “Widow Sues Over an ‘Unfit’ Casket.” New York Post. March 21, 1984. ]

Modeling

Pamela appeared in magazines and brochures as a model in the 1970’s and 1980’s. She was "Miss Dodge," a spokes model for Marion Motor Co. in Ocala, Florida in 1972 [ “Big Enough for the Whole Family!” The Aristocrat. July 1972. No. 6, Vol 5. ] . In 1976, She posed in advertisements for the Mexican resort chain Aristos, including their properties in Cancun, Ixtapa and Mexico City. [ Mexico Aristos Cancun, Ixtapa, Mexico City. Promotional Brochure. Robinsons Inc. Orlando, FL. 1976. ] In the Cancun brochure, she is featured prominently as part of a happy couple, living it up at the buffets, pools, golf courses and beaches. She was also featured in brochures for Casablanca Villas on Water Isle in the U.S. Virgin Islands in from 1986-1989. [ “A Unique Island Paradise.” Promotional Brochure. Casablanca Villas. Water Isle, U.S. Virgin Islands. 1986-1989. ]

Fashion Design

Pamela’s fashion design career took shape in the late 1970’s when she reportedly charged clients in New York $250 for pants suits that were made of natural fabrics with unusual textures and colors. [Griffths, Patti. “Wildwood Girl Sewing Up Fashion Career in New York City.” Ocala Star Banner. July 9, 1978.] She created her own fashion label, Stafford of New York, and specialized in ball gowns and plus sized attire.

Charity Work

Realizing that she was in a position to give back to the community, Pamela took great interest in charitable organizations. She was a guest speaker at the Atrium Club and the New York Women’s Forum for the American Foundation of Aids Research, where she held a reception which raised money for the foundation. Those who attended were treated to a spring/summer fashion forecast and a discussion of skin care techniques. [ Hanson, Cynthia. “Fashion Designer Speaks at Forum.” Ocala Star Banner. January 13, 1993.]

She has also worked with the American Red Cross’s H.U.G. program in Greater New York, where she served as Co-Chairperson in the 1990’s. She spent her Tuesdays counseling mothers who gave birth in the City’s Metropolitan Hospital on the importance of immunizing their infants in the Baby Track program. [ Roth-Dornfeld, Mina. “Letter to Peoples’ Magazine.” January 29, 1989. ] This program kept track of babies and helped at risk mothers find and use the state programs available to them so that they would not abandon their babies. For her work with H.U.G, Pamela honored at a ceremony at West Point.

Pamela was a Red Cross volunteer during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, and received a Red Cross appreciation certificate for her efforts. [McLaughlin, David and Harold J. Decker. “Certificate of Appreciation.” American Red Cross. December 2001. ] Her first hand account of the tragedy of 9/11 served as inspiration for her art.

Art

Pamela has painted most of her life, however, in recent years she has refined her techniques and created a niche for herself at the National Academy of Design in New York City. Her most popular work, “New Hope,” was inspired by the events of 9/11, and has been received with rave reviews from art critics, who have said “there is a harmony of patriotism, religion and beauty done in a dignified, calm manner.” [ Gortay, Aaron. “New Hope.” Art Criticism. June 2003. ] The painting won the 2002 mural scholarship awarded by the Abbey Foundation with the National Academy of Design. The painting was recently featured at the 2007 Alumni show at National Academy.

Pamela looks for interesting angles in many of her paintings. In a work entitled “The Last Temptation of Christ,” she uses an incarcerated man as her model, and depicts him looking skyward towards heaven. This piece was revered as “arguably the most beautiful painting currently hanging in Abingdon” [ “The Light of the World.” Abingdon Virginian. December 18, 2002. ] in a local paper. Pamela is currently painting commissioned portraits, and teaches private lessons on oil painting each Spring in New York City.

External links

Pamela Stafford Design [http://www.pamelastafford.com]

References