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Englewood fine art collector and surgeon Wayne Yakes often loans his paintings by international artists to local museums, allowing them to organize exhibitions featuring works worth six figures.

More attention has been paid to the 58-year-old’s artwork and to his discovery of a way to treat abnormal blood vessels in the brain without surgery than to the man himself.

That’s about to change.

Central Catholic High School in San Antonio will name its new athletic and convocation center after Yakes and his mother, Frances Yakes, in honor of his $5 million donation to the school.

The school also will also name a court after Joe Cortez, a San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame basketball coach who worked with Yakes when he was attending the high school.

Yakes said he chose to donate to the school because he felt it prepared him for rigorous education at Rice University in Houston and Creighton University in Omaha, from which he earned his medical degree in 1979.

“What level did this school not prepare me for?” Yakes asked of Central Catholic. “I wish every high school was like this one.”

Yakes said the ROTC program allowed him to graduate from college and medical school without debt. That freed him up to begin collecting art in the early 1980s. He searches for pieces that inspire him philosophically and intellectually and that demonstrate good technique.

He has loaned close to 100 paintings to Denver-area museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Mizel Arts and Culture Center.

“We’ve been able to produce some pretty ambitious shows because Dr. Yakes has the material and he’s willing to lend it,” said Simon Zalkind, director of the Mizel Center’s Singer Gallery. “He’s a very generous and exhibit-minded collector.”

Liz Navratil: 303-954-1054 or lnavratil@denverpost.com