Quote/Unquote

QUOTE/UNQUOTE
"I am a great believer in the concept that America has made great contributions to world culture. I perform all over the world and wherever I go, the people in that country always show me what they have given to the world. In England they have theater, in France they have cooking and art, in Italy they have opera, in Japan they have haiku poetry. We are a relatively young country, and we sometimes don't understand or appreciate those contributions America has made to the world. Jazz, baseball, of course, and the tradition of American painters such as Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Andy Warhol, Edward Hopper -- just an incredible legacy. Dr. Zona not only understands and appreciates that legacy, but he champions it. ... Dr. Zona is one of the finest persons I have ever met, and I'll be his friend for life. Anytime, anyplace, anywhere he needs me, I'll be there."
Tony Bennett
Singer and artist
"He has a lot of shows of many artists who are not world celebrities, who are really good. I saw that as one of his special contributions. Lily Harmon was a New York artist who was a very good artist by many people. I don't know where Lou knew her from, but he knew her from years back. He heard that Lily was fatally ill, was dying of cancer. Out of the blue, he called her, and he said, 'I'm changing the museum schedule, and you're having a show here. He knew that was going to be her final show. It's an amazing thing to do. I've never heard of a museum doing that before. The next thing she knew, the truck had arrived and they were unloading her studio in New York. It was installed at the Trumbull branch. Just astonishing, this last tribute to this wonderful dying artist. She flew out there just for the day. She was on her last legs. The opening of the show and the Youngstown, the gentry showed up to pay tribute to her. She flew back and went to bed and stayed there for awhile. I saw her, and she said what a wonderful time she had had. I organized a bunch of artists to fly up to see the show. We had a wonderful time, and I met Lou. He was simply wonderful, and we've been friends ever since. He's a generous, caring, wonderful man who really cares about the artist."
Don Holden
Friend and painter, retired public relations director at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
"There was absolutely no one we wanted to be the director of the Butler but Lou Zona. He was unanimously approved. Lou could see the benefits of making the Butler know nationwide and internationally while preserving what we already have. The new center [Beecher Center] that was built a couple of years ago, I thought it should have been called the Zona Center. But of course he wouldn't have it. I think it's fascinating, and it is new art."
Eleanor Beecher Flad
Former board member of Butler Institute of American Art since the 1980s, board member emeritus and friend
"What I find really special about Dr. Zona is he cares about the living artist, the contemporary artist. Most museum directors, they sort of shun away from contemporary artists and are very, very selective. This man, he opens his heart. He cares about artists. He helps them exhibit their paintings. Whatever he can do to extend himself to help artists, he'll do. He is what you call a visionary. Think about what he's done at his tenure so far."
Gary Erbe
Friend of 25 years and painter