| The Park West® Foundation Supporting creative, lasting solutions for youth |
Meet Albert and Mitsie Scaglione
Albert Scaglione
Chief Executive Officer
Albert Scaglione is the founder and chief executive officer of Park West Gallery®,
the largest independently-owned gallery of fine art in the world. Founded in 1969,
Park West Gallery® is based in Southfield, Mich., with an affiliate location in Miami,
Fla. Park West Gallery® conducts fine art auctions throughout the United States
and Canada, and its affiliate company, Park West®, conducts art auctions aboard
cruise ships around the world.
As with most people, Scaglione arrived where he is in life through several twists
and turns. After completing his doctorate, he began his career in 1967 teaching
mechanical engineering sciences at Wayne State University in Detroit. At the time,
his research to solve the problem of how to land an astronaut on Mars without
burning up and the co-related issue of providing a solution to the heat shield
problems associated with the development of a S.S. Supersonic Transport (SST),
was heavily underwritten by NASA.
When these projects were abandoned by the government, Scaglione left in 1969
rather than work on secret Government projects that utilized his skills in magneto hydrodynamics, not however in
interplanetary travel or supersonic transport, but in weapons delivery systems. He went into the art auction
business at the suggestion of a friend, who saw it as the future of collecting. As a teenager, Scaglione spent a
summer working in a relative's gallery and loved everything about it, from the framing and crating of artwork to
the sales. In the late 60's and early 70's, success came when he met Peter Max and became one of his most
important art dealers. Shortly thereafter in the 70's in Paris, he met Yaacov Agam, considered to be the father of
the kinetic art movement, and Victor Vasarely, one of the developers of Op art, and also became one of their
most important art dealers. His further successes in the 70's came when, by working directly with their prime
dealers in Europe, he introduced the works of Maurits Escher, Marc Chagall, and Joan Miro to a much larger
segment of the American Public. Since its establishment, Park West Gallery® has provided fine artwork of the
highest quality to over 1 million clients around the world.
Scaglione is deeply committed to serving his community. The Park West Gallery Foundation® formed in 2006 to
provide a range of services for children and families in the form of foster care, family preservation, family life
education, counseling, teen parent services, residential placement and adoption. The Park West Gallery
Foundation® is also involved with numerous organizations committed to strengthening positive values and
leadership in communities around the world.
Scaglione currently resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan with his wife, Mitsie. Mitsie and two of their adult
children, Marc Scaglione and Nicky Yanke, also work at the Park West Gallery® offices in Southfield.
Mitsie Scaglione
Executive Director Park West Foundation
As the executive director of the not-for-profit Park West Foundation,
Mitsie Scaglione has created a dynamic organization that touches the lives of underprivileged young women in
the Detroit area. At the helm of the organizations’ varied activities, Mitsie Scaglione is the guiding force for overall
operations that includes New Directions For Youth. Designed to ease the difficult transition from foster care to a
fulfilling life as young adults, this program offers help for those about to “age-out” of the state-sponsored foster
care system.
Working with foster children is something dear to Mitsie’s heart, though it wasn’t a cause she and her husband
Albert were looking for. Four years ago, the Scagliones sponsored a benefit for the Lutheran Child and Family
Service of Michigan at their Park West Gallery. They were touched when one of the girls they aided drew a
picture in thanks, and decided to look deeper into the situation.
“I bought some art supplies and went to a house in inner city Detroit where nine foster care girls were living.
They were so delightful and happy to see us. I fell in love,” said Mitsie.
Mitsie has since learned that when these girls become too old for foster care they are handed a garbage bag
with their possessions and are sent out onto the street.
“They've had no training to live an everyday life. They don't know how to get a job, take care of themselves,
grocery shop, do banking, or even get a driver's license. Many of them have no ID whatsoever. They're just
babies in the woods. We founded the Park West Foundation to help them find their way in the real world,” said
Mitsie.
Mitsie takes a very hands-on approach to help these young women find their way. Under her direction, the
organization gives back to the community in terms of providing funds and guidance, from something as simple as
obtaining a birth certificate to more complex issues such as how to locate other organizations who can offer help
with housing and medical care.
“We can help in so many ways. I recently advised a young woman who was having trouble with the law to write
a personal letter to the judge. By doing this, he was able to see the situation from her point of view. We are
trying to give these young women their own voice, a voice they never knew they had, said Mitsie.
In addition to helping in practical ways, Mistie is in direct personal contact with the children who refer to her as
“Grandma” and to Albert as “Grandpa.” Creating a sense of family is a way of humanizing the lives of these
children who often have forgotten what it means to be part of a family.
“You know, there’s been a lack of black men in the black families, and that’s one thing that Bill Cosby supports.
He wants to see about getting the black men back into the home and taking part in what’s going on. Because it’s
really just the mothers and the grandmothers that were probably the most upright people these kids have met
are slowly dying out. So there’s no one to take this over. I want to open people's eyes to quit complaining and
do something,” said Mitsie.
Today the Park West Foundation is working with 70 girls, some who are still in the foster care system. They hope
to eventually aid young men as well.
“We want to expose them to the fact there's a lot out there to do. They have options. We tell them, you can
scam your way through life but there is another way to live. Of the original nine girls, four are now college bound.
It's gratifying when you see them start to make it,” said Mitsie.
Albert Scaglione
Chief Executive Officer
Albert Scaglione is the founder and chief executive officer of Park West Gallery®,
the largest independently-owned gallery of fine art in the world. Founded in 1969,
Park West Gallery® is based in Southfield, Mich., with an affiliate location in Miami,
Fla. Park West Gallery® conducts fine art auctions throughout the United States
and Canada, and its affiliate company, Park West®, conducts art auctions aboard
cruise ships around the world.
As with most people, Scaglione arrived where he is in life through several twists
and turns. After completing his doctorate, he began his career in 1967 teaching
mechanical engineering sciences at Wayne State University in Detroit. At the time,
his research to solve the problem of how to land an astronaut on Mars without
burning up and the co-related issue of providing a solution to the heat shield
problems associated with the development of a S.S. Supersonic Transport (SST),
was heavily underwritten by NASA.
When these projects were abandoned by the government, Scaglione left in 1969
rather than work on secret Government projects that utilized his skills in magneto hydrodynamics, not however in
interplanetary travel or supersonic transport, but in weapons delivery systems. He went into the art auction
business at the suggestion of a friend, who saw it as the future of collecting. As a teenager, Scaglione spent a
summer working in a relative's gallery and loved everything about it, from the framing and crating of artwork to
the sales. In the late 60's and early 70's, success came when he met Peter Max and became one of his most
important art dealers. Shortly thereafter in the 70's in Paris, he met Yaacov Agam, considered to be the father of
the kinetic art movement, and Victor Vasarely, one of the developers of Op art, and also became one of their
most important art dealers. His further successes in the 70's came when, by working directly with their prime
dealers in Europe, he introduced the works of Maurits Escher, Marc Chagall, and Joan Miro to a much larger
segment of the American Public. Since its establishment, Park West Gallery® has provided fine artwork of the
highest quality to over 1 million clients around the world.
Scaglione is deeply committed to serving his community. The Park West Gallery Foundation® formed in 2006 to
provide a range of services for children and families in the form of foster care, family preservation, family life
education, counseling, teen parent services, residential placement and adoption. The Park West Gallery
Foundation® is also involved with numerous organizations committed to strengthening positive values and
leadership in communities around the world.
Scaglione currently resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan with his wife, Mitsie. Mitsie and two of their adult
children, Marc Scaglione and Nicky Yanke, also work at the Park West Gallery® offices in Southfield.
Mitsie Scaglione
Executive Director Park West Foundation
As the executive director of the not-for-profit Park West Foundation,
Mitsie Scaglione has created a dynamic organization that touches the lives of underprivileged young women in
the Detroit area. At the helm of the organizations’ varied activities, Mitsie Scaglione is the guiding force for overall
operations that includes New Directions For Youth. Designed to ease the difficult transition from foster care to a
fulfilling life as young adults, this program offers help for those about to “age-out” of the state-sponsored foster
care system.
Working with foster children is something dear to Mitsie’s heart, though it wasn’t a cause she and her husband
Albert were looking for. Four years ago, the Scagliones sponsored a benefit for the Lutheran Child and Family
Service of Michigan at their Park West Gallery. They were touched when one of the girls they aided drew a
picture in thanks, and decided to look deeper into the situation.
“I bought some art supplies and went to a house in inner city Detroit where nine foster care girls were living.
They were so delightful and happy to see us. I fell in love,” said Mitsie.
Mitsie has since learned that when these girls become too old for foster care they are handed a garbage bag
with their possessions and are sent out onto the street.
“They've had no training to live an everyday life. They don't know how to get a job, take care of themselves,
grocery shop, do banking, or even get a driver's license. Many of them have no ID whatsoever. They're just
babies in the woods. We founded the Park West Foundation to help them find their way in the real world,” said
Mitsie.
Mitsie takes a very hands-on approach to help these young women find their way. Under her direction, the
organization gives back to the community in terms of providing funds and guidance, from something as simple as
obtaining a birth certificate to more complex issues such as how to locate other organizations who can offer help
with housing and medical care.
“We can help in so many ways. I recently advised a young woman who was having trouble with the law to write
a personal letter to the judge. By doing this, he was able to see the situation from her point of view. We are
trying to give these young women their own voice, a voice they never knew they had, said Mitsie.
In addition to helping in practical ways, Mistie is in direct personal contact with the children who refer to her as
“Grandma” and to Albert as “Grandpa.” Creating a sense of family is a way of humanizing the lives of these
children who often have forgotten what it means to be part of a family.
“You know, there’s been a lack of black men in the black families, and that’s one thing that Bill Cosby supports.
He wants to see about getting the black men back into the home and taking part in what’s going on. Because it’s
really just the mothers and the grandmothers that were probably the most upright people these kids have met
are slowly dying out. So there’s no one to take this over. I want to open people's eyes to quit complaining and
do something,” said Mitsie.
Today the Park West Foundation is working with 70 girls, some who are still in the foster care system. They hope
to eventually aid young men as well.
“We want to expose them to the fact there's a lot out there to do. They have options. We tell them, you can
scam your way through life but there is another way to live. Of the original nine girls, four are now college bound.
It's gratifying when you see them start to make it,” said Mitsie.
Park West
Foundation®
29469 Northwestern
Southfield, MI 48034
(877) 440-0630
Foundation®
29469 Northwestern
Southfield, MI 48034
(877) 440-0630
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. -Galatians 5:22, 23 Copyright ©2008 Park West Foundation® All rights reserved. 29469 Northwestern Hwy, Southfield, Michigan 48034 (800) 521-9654 (248) 354-2343 Customer Service (877) 440-0630 Need Help? Email us at info@parkwestfoundation.com Gallery Hours: 10-6 Mon-Wed // 10-9 Thurs and Fri // 11-6 Sat and Sun |
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Park West Gallery® conducts fine art auctions throughout the United States and Canada. Cruise ship art auctions are conducted by our affiliate company, Park West® Park West Gallery® is based in Southfield, Michigan, with affiliate locations in Miami, Florida. |
