1937 - 2020

Kent Addison

Bio

July 12, 1937 - April 26, 2020

A prolific painter, sculptor, and educator, Kent Addison was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1937. After receiving his BFA in 1959 from Washington University in St. Louis, the artist, going by the name Kent Addison, traveled to Indiana where he would complete his MFA in 1960 at Notre Dame University.

Upon returning home, Addison instructed sculptural courses for University College at Washington University in St. Louis. Shortly after, he accepted a professorship at Maryville University, where founded and established the Art and Design Department. In 1973, Addison assumed the role of Pillsbury Chair of Fine Art for the university. He continued to serve at Maryville as the Department Chair and Fine Art Program Director, and upon his retirement in 1995, the university awarded him Emeritus Professor of Art.

Though Addison began as a sculptor, he shifted mid-career, producing richly detailed trompe-l'oeil watercolor paintings featuring found objects. These progressed into various series, ranging from compositions that leaned towards minimalism to hybrid still-lifes featuring portraits culled from art history. Addison cultivated an intricate visual language of symbols and figures. When viewed as a whole, the disparate subjects co-exist in harmony, illustrating the guiding tenet of Addison’s artistic practice: to affirm that any person, regardless of their status, deserves love.

Addison has been the recipient of many honors over the course of his career including Outstanding Educators of America in 1970, numerous distinctions in publications such as Who’s Who in Art, and the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, granted by the Watercolor USA Honor Society in 2015.

His work can be found in both public and private collections including: Mid-Kansas Federal Savings and Loan, Wichita, Kansas, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri, Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin, The Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Addison was commissioned to make several landmarks that can still be found around St. Louis including The Pine: St. Louis Award located in Forest Park and various sculptures on the Maryville University Campus.

He has exhibited widely across the country including solo-exhibitions in St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Wichita, and New Orleans. His work has featured in group-exhibitions, juried exhibitions, and invitational exhibitions, and he maintained membership within many organizations including the St. Louis Artists’ Guild and National Watercolor Society. Countless publications have illustrated his work and in 1984, American Artist Magazine highlighted Addison in the December issue as their featured artist, one of only 100 artists accepted into American Artist Magazine’s National Art Competition.

Addison was as devoted to his family and faith as he was to his career. He is survived by his wife, Sharon Lee Addison, children and grandchildren after his passing at the age of 82 in April of 2020.

Kent Addison

CV

July 12, 1937 - April 26, 2020

Education

Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, BFA 1959

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, MA 1960

Positions

Instructor in Sculpture, University College of Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 1961 - 1963 

Maryville University, St. Louis, Missouri

            Professor of Art

            Pillsbury Chiar of Fine Arts

            Fine Arts Program Director

Academic Honors and Awards

1970 Outstanding Educators of America

1973 Pillsbury Chair of Fine Arts, Maryville College

2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, Watercolor USA Honor Society 

Fellowships, Grants, and Commissions

1956 Roblee Scholarship to Chautauqua, New York

1958-59 Secor Scholarship, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

1959-60 Graduate Scholarship, Notre Dame University, Notre Dame, Indiana

1962 John T. Milliken Travel Scholarship

1988 Mid-America Arts Alliance and the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Award

1965 St. Louis Award, Wohl Family Commission for a Public Statue, Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri 

Solo Exhibitions

Norton’s Art Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri 1960, 1961

Michael Thomas Gallery, Los Angeles, California 1962 

Maxwell Gallery, San Francisco, California 1963, 1968, 1970, 1974 

The Sculptors Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri, 1964, 1966, 1967

Frederick Anthon Gallery, Beverly Hills, California 1965

John Burroughs School, St. Louis, Missouri, 1966

Mark Anthony Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana 1967

Forsyth Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri 1969

Maryville College, St. Louis, Missouri 1968, 1970, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990

The Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas, 1986

Public Collections and Commissions

Mid-Kansas Federal Savings and Loan, Wichita, Kansas

Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri

Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin

The Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri