Linda Pace, 62; food company heiress created, supported art

Linda Pace, 62, an art patron and heir to the Pace Food fortune, died Monday in San Antonio from complications of breast cancer, said Matthew Drutt, executive director of her artist residency program, Artpace.

Pace, an heir to her late father’s company, founded Artpace in 1995 in an old Hudson car dealership in downtown San Antonio.

Artpace is considered one of the country’s leading international artist residency programs.

International and local artists are selected for eight-week residencies that are followed by exhibits of the works created during their stays.

The program has brought acclaimed artists to San Antonio while giving local artists a chance at wider recognition.

As an artist, Pace was known for creating monochromatic mixed-media collages out of assorted objects such as advertising trinkets and plastic jewels.

Her father created the original Pace Picante Sauce in 1947. She and her husband acquired the company in 1982 for $14 million. When they divorced in 1991, Pace sold her stake to her former husband, and he later sold it to Campbell Soup Co. for $1.12 billion.