A memorial gathering for Price Amerson, creator and director of UC Davis' Richard L. Nelson Gallery & The Fine Arts Collection, will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, at the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. A reception will follow at the Nelson Gallery in the Art Building. Amerson, also an art lecturer and an artist known for his whimsical style, died Friday, Sept. 17, of sudden cardiac arrest. He had just turned 58. He directed the art department gallery for more than 20 years, developing both the gallery's exhibitions and its permanent collection. Under his leadership the gallery became known for exhibiting a wide range of historic and contemporary works by internationally known artists including Fred Wilson, Guerrilla Girls and Ansel Adams. The Fine Arts Collection grew significantly during Amerson's tenure as director, and today includes important works by artists including Wayne Thiebaud, Roy De Forest, Jay DeFeo and Joseph Yoakum, as well as the Nagel Collection of Asian Art. "Price Amerson's hard work and dedication to the Department of Art and to creating the Nelson Gallery and Fine Arts Collection has been immeasurable," said Elizabeth Langland, dean of the humanities, arts and cultural studies division of the College of Letters and Science. "He assembled what is now a preeminent collection of some of the most influential artists of the last three decades-in large part the faculty and alumni artists of UC Davis. He will be missed greatly." Especially prominent among Amerson's accomplishments was the commissioning through the campus's Art in Public Places group of Robert Arneson's Eggheads, a series of five bronze sculptures now popular with campus visitors and denizens alike. Amerson authored more than 40 publications, including books, exhibition catalogs and brochures about such exhibitions as Sacramento Valley landscapes, Manuel Neri, Michael Tompkins and Ciel Bergman. He made a series of video recordings during the early 1980s focusing on artists at work, including Roy de Forest, Wayne Thiebaud and Ralph Johnson, all of whom taught art on campus. During Amerson's directorship of the gallery, a group known as Nelson ARTfriends was created to support the gallery's work. Among other projects the group is known for its annual February Artist's Valentines fund-raising event. Amerson taught courses in museum studies for years and mentored many young artists and museum professionals. Amerson's contributions to enhancing the public's access to art went beyond the campus. He participated in the arts community in Northern California by serving as a juror for shows at the Davis Art Center and at the Matrix Gallery in Sacramento, participating as a panelist for San Francisco art programs and for the San Francisco Arts Commission, serving on Yolo County Arts Council committees and teaching classes through University Extension, among other efforts. Amerson joined UC Davis in 1972. He held a doctorate in art history from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor's degree in art and design from Texas Tech University. Amerson was known among area gardeners for his vast and varied private rose collection, which he sometimes opened to the public as part of a Woodland garden tour. He was also active as a founding member of the Woodland Library Rose Club, and was considered instrumental in getting rose gardens on the Woodland library grounds completed. Memorial contributions may be sent to either the Vesta Endowment Fund, Nelson Gallery, One Shields Ave., UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616, or to the Woodland Library Rose Club, 250 First St., Woodland, CA 95695.