“I’ve seen the Palmer Museum grow and I know it is becoming more of a national presence, and we want to be a part of that,” Ameringer said.
Director of the Palmer Museum of Art Erin M. Coe said the gift will help to distinguish the Palmer as a university art museum dedicated to amplifying diverse voices, especially those in the LGBTQ community, and fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion.
“We are profoundly grateful to Will and Kevin for making this commitment to the Palmer Museum of Art. This collection of works by contemporary artists, many of which relate to the natural world, will resonate at our new home in the Arboretum,” Coe said. “The endowment is a significant investment in our ability to deliver world-class exhibitions and programming to diverse audiences for future generations.”
The love of art is something that Ameringer said he has always had, but he credits trips as a young boy with his mother to various museums such as the National Gallery as a catalyst for a life devoted to art collection and appreciation.
“I remember a lot about those trips, but most vividly was that I was allowed to buy a postcard that cost a nickel,” Ameringer said. “I don’t know if this signifies that I was definitive in what I liked, but I bought the same post card every time I went.”
A small stack of American impressionist John Henry Twachtman’s “Winter Scene” that he collected during those museum visits foreshadowed a prolific career as an art collector and dealer that began in 1981 as assistant curator for contemporary art at the Baltimore Museum of Art just after he earned a master’s degree from Harvard.
As his career blossomed, he made his way to New York City where, after serving as a director of the André Emmerich Gallery, he opened Will Ameringer Fine Art, specializing in post-war American art with an emphasis on color field painting.
After Ameringer became established in New York, a familiar face came to the gallery: Barbara Palmer, who, along with her husband James, was the museum’s namesake and a visionary and champion of the arts at Penn State.
Ameringer was representing American abstract painter Jules Olitski, and he worked to help Palmer acquire the painting “Compelled” for the museum’s collection in 2002. The relationship continued as he agreed to serve on the museum’s advisory board between 2004 and 2005, and he now serves on the museum’s National Advisory Council.
“Barbara’s visit reminded me that there will always be this special connection to Penn State,” Ameringer said.
In 2009, Ameringer was introduced at a marriage equality fundraiser to Kevin Byrne, an interior designer and professor of interior design. As the two conversed, their commonalities came into view.
“We knew everyone in common and had everything in common,” Byrne said. “We just had never met.”
The couple was married in 2011 and since then they have made several trips to Penn State, giving Ameringer an opportunity to share the connection to the area.
“A major part of Will’s DNA is in State College,” Byrne said. “And because of that, this gift just makes sense, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.”
During the most recent trip in 2021, the couple drove by Ameringer’s childhood home, which was sold after his dad died in 2018. The memories were rich but came with a dose of reality.
“When I grew up at Penn State, it was a football school,” Ameringer said. “And I don’t know exactly where a young gay person fit in there.”
As the two came closer to the home, they saw a rainbow flag flying on the property now owned by a gay couple with two children. Ameringer and Byrne have befriended the couple, which Ameringer said not only serves as a serendipitous bookend for his story but also solidifies the decision to make the gift.
“I just thought, ‘Wow, this really says a lot about Penn State,’” Ameringer said. “The University has embraced Kevin and me as a married couple and it feels like the right place and the right thing to do.”
This gift will advance "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.