Artist donates painting to UCSD preschool center

Orange County painter/printmaker Elizabeth Wallace unveiled “Angel Trike,” a painting of a red tricycle against a blue background that she donated to the Mesa Child Development Center at UCSD during a reception on Sept. 30. The award-winning artist created the 36- by 24-inch pastel-on-paper painting as part of a series exploring her son’s three-wheeler from different vantage points.

“Angel Trike” will hang in a classroom at the Mesa Child Development Center, a part-time preschool occupying UCSD’s first building to be certified as LEED “Gold” by the U.S. Green Building Council. The building was renovated in 2009 to engage kids 2 1/2 to 5 through the innovative use of space, light and color. It chiefly serves children of UCSD faculty, staff and students. The vibrant artwork “illustrates the bright side and potential of human life,” said Wallace. “I used pastels as the medium because pastels are pure pigment, without additives or fillers. Therefore, pastels mirror the simplicity and directness of a child’s intentions.”