Richard J. Pavlicek collection, 1941-1948

Richard J. Pavlicek attended Mechanical Arts High School in St. Paul and earned a scholarship to the St. Paul School of Art, which he attended in 1935-37. Afterwards, he attended the New Bauhaus in Chicago. Pavlicek worked directly with Karel Dodal, who was considered the Walt Disney of Czechoslavkia and headed up the Visual Education department at the University of Minnesota. From 1940-41 Pavlicek lived with Gerome Kamrowski in his New York City art studio and began collecting and producing art. From October 1941 until February 1943, Pavlicek worked as a civilian with the Army Air Force in the Training Film Preparation Unit and was inducted into the Army Air Force where he remained until 1946. He returned to Chicago in 1946 to attend the University of Illinois and the Illinois Institute of Technology, earning his architecture degree in 1949. Pavlicek graduated in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in architecture. From 1949 until 1982, Pavlicek successfully worked for numerous major architectural engineering firms in St. Paul, Chicago, and New York. He opened his own firm in 1982 and continued to work as a professional architect and consultant thru 1991. Some of his significant works include: Project Manager for the State Department in Washington D.C., the addition and renovation of the south wing at the Detroit Institute of Arts, numerous large scale automotive assembly plant buildings (40 acres in size) throughout greater Detroit, the new power plant at Wagner and Scio Church Road, among others.