Mr. Perine was also an artist and writer who published books about the craft under his Artra Publishing Company. His artwork is housed in more than 200 permanent collections across the country. He also had a graphic design firm and created logos and marketing materials.
Robert Perine, co- founder of The Chouinard Foundation, an art school in South Pasadena. Perine died over the weekend at age 81.
Last year, Perine and partner Dave Tourje launched the Mission Street school, named for pioneering Los Angeles educator Nelbert Chouinard, who died in 1969. The Chouinard Foundation began its inaugural semester in October 2003, offering day, night and Saturday classes. Tourje, a South Pasadena resident, and Perine, who lived in Pasadena, were co-directors. The fledgling school emphasizes the fundamentals of drawing, painting, ceramics and other disciplines, and uses working artists as guest faculty.
Nelbert Chouinard founded the highly regarded Chouinard Art Institute. Established in 1921 in the MacArthur Park area of Los Angeles, the school was absorbed in 1972 by what became California Institute of the Arts, in Valencia, which dropped the Chouinard name.
Perine and Tourje acquired the rights to the Chouinard name through the state, which also granted the school nonprofit status. They held fund-raisers and leased 16,000 square feet of space in a turn-of-the-century city landmark that was extensively renovated.
Perine grew up in San Marino and graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1941. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1942-46, with the rank Painter 1st Class.
His 1986 book, "Chouinard: An Art Vision Betrayed,' chronicled the original school's history.
"I was a student at Chouinard right after World War II. I went there on the GI Bill, and graduated in 1950,' Perine said in 2003. He spent his career as graphic designer.
Chouinard "lived in South Pasadena, on Garfield Avenue. When I was a student, I would occasionally pick her up and take her to school," Perine recalled last year.
Perine is survived by his wife, Blaze Newman; two daughters, Jorli Perine and Lisa Corcoran; and eight grandchildren. Another daughter, Terri, preceded him in death.
Pasadena Star-News, November 12, 2004