SAN FRANCISCO, California, April 21, 2008 — A. Alan Post, whose distinguished career of public service parallels one as an acclaimed artist, has donated a collection of six of his paintings to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), where he was a founding member of the board of directors. The paintings, inspired by the diversity of the state’s landscape, will be displayed in the conference room of the PPIC Sacramento Center.
Post’s career in public service spans 60 years. He served as California’s legislative analyst for 27 years, during the administrations of five governors: Earl Warren, Goodwin Knight, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown, Ronald Reagan, and Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown. Post earned a reputation as a fiercely independent, unbiased voice for improving the state legislature. His analytical rigor and nonpartisan integrity came to define the role of legislative analyst.
After his retirement in 1977, Post remained actively involved in public policy, serving on numerous boards and commissions. As a founding director of PPIC, he helped build the institute into an objective, nonpartisan public policy research organization. He served on the board for nine years, from 1994 to 2003. In 2000, the California Journal named Post one of the state’s 30 most influential public figures of the 20th century.
Post is also a respected artist whose work has been widely exhibited. He sold his first painting as a doctoral student in economics at Princeton. His landscapes, still lifes, and portraits have found a home in many collections since then. Both he and his wife, noted sculptor Helen Post, are represented by the Solomon Dubnick Gallery in Sacramento.
Post painted the collection of landscapes he has given to PPIC between 1939 and 1945. His scenes embody the richness of California, from its coast to its rivers and valleys.
“We’re honored to be able to display Alan’s paintings in our Sacramento Center,” said Mark Baldassare, PPIC’s president and CEO. “They are a reminder of his love for California and a career of distinguished service that has benefited all Californians. We hope today’s state leaders will be inspired by his artistic vision and unbiased approach to policy and will regard our Sacramento Center as a neutral ground for productive discussion of critical issues.”
Based in San Francisco, PPIC opened its Sacramento Center across the street from the State Capitol last September as an accessible source of state-level policy analysis. PPIC convenes research and policy briefings and other events to further its goal of informing and improving the state’s policymaking climate and process.
In recognition of Post’s extraordinary career, PPIC will hold a reception in his honor on April 23rd and name the Sacramento Center conference room the “A. Alan Post Conference Room.”
Contact Artemio Armenta (916-440-1133 or armenta@ppic.org), PPIC’s government affairs associate, to arrange to view the paintings at the PPIC Sacramento Center, which is in the Senator Building at 1121 L Street, Suite 801.
ABOUT PPIC
The Public Policy Institute of California is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to informing and improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research on major economic, social, and political issues. The institute was established in 1994 with an endowment from William R. Hewlett. PPIC does not take or support positions on any ballot measure or on any local, state, or federal legislation, nor does it endorse, support, or oppose any political parties or candidates for public office.