Evett, Kenneth, 1913-2005

Artist, Professor of Art, Cornell University.

Born in Loveland, Colorado, Kenneth Evett received an M.F.A. degree in painting from Colorado College in 1913, and studied at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center . He was awarded a commission by the WPA's federal section of fine arts to paint a mural for the Humboldt, Nebraska Post Office. He ultimately painted six murals for post offices in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. He taught at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC and directed an artists' colony near Hot Springs, Va., among other jobs, while continuing to paint. In 1948, he joined the Department of Art in Cornell's College of Architecture. In 1954, he won a national juried competition to paint three murals for the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. He exhibited in national group shows and had works in numerous collections. He was also featured in more than a dozen exhibitions at the Kraushaar Galleries in New York City. Additionally, he wrote essays on art for The New Republic from 1972-1977 and for The Book Press in the mid-1990s. He was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1994. Kenneth Evett died on May 28, 2005 in Ithaca.