By Margarita Cancino
The Vince Price Art Museum may sound like just another building on the East Los Angeles College campus, when in fact its name has much history to it.
Vince Price is not only a man who donated art and founded an art gallery, later turned into a museum, named after him at ELAC, he was a famous actor and a well known art collector.
Price discovered his interest as an actor when he started attending The University of London to study for a Masters Degree in Fine Arts.
Price began his acting career in horror films in the 1930’s and got one of his first starring roles in the films like “The Invisible Man,” “House of Wax” and “House on Haunted Hill.”
For decades he was getting starring roles in films where he was portraying villains.
In the 1970s he began his career in narrative and voice work for cartoons.
Price made appearances on shows that are now considered classics – “I Love Lucy,” “The Brady Bunch” and “The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.”
Price even got a sinister monologue on hit song thriller “Thriller” by Michael Jackson.
Price never failed to express his love for art.
In 1960 he became an art consultant for Sears and his daughter Victoria said that it.
Price and his second wife Mary Grant Price visited ELAc and not only donated money but hundreds of works of art to ELAC.
They showed their support for the arts at east LA for more than fifty years and happily engaged with the students and staff.
Price was a frequent classroom guest and was never shy of being a speaker at graduation and ceremonies at ELAC.
In 1957 Price made his first donation to ELAC. He donated 90 pieces from his personal collection to East Los Angeles College. The donation was the start of the Vincent Price Art Gallery.
Now, 50 years later, the art collection has grown to become more than 9,000 art pieces and the gallery is now the Vincent Price Art Museum, and one of the only museums on a community college campus.