Raymond Kenneth Kennon

Raymond Kennon was a self-taught artist who worked in many art mediums, but focused on painting, particularly watercolor and oils. He was born in Dunnegan, Missouri, on February 28, 1903, and grew up in Clay, Missouri. He married Ethelyn Mae Peebles, an artist, in 1924 and settled in Springfield, Missouri.

From 1928 to 1939, Kennon worked as an architect for a Springfield construction company, though he began seriously painting in 1933. In 1939 he organized the Ozarks Artists Association and was elected president in 1945. He founded the Ozark Art and Craft Center with his wife, Ethelyn Kennon, in 1941. At the Center, he taught art classes, but also taught at the Springfield Art Museum and Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, a summer school in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and privately.

Kennon was an active promoter of the arts in Springfield. He involved in the first Annual Street Fairs, fine arts exhibits at the Ozark Empire District Fair, one-man shows at the Springfield Art Museum, traveling art exhibits sent out of Springfield, and Annual Art Week exhibits. He also was a judge at multiple art shows and exhibitions, such as the 1963 annual show at the Springfield Art Museum and the exhibit Watercolor USA in 1967.

His artwork was in many exhibitions, from solo shows to exhibitions hosted by institutions. He designed Christmas cards for Drury College in 1950, and designed a Missouri auto license sticker in 1951 that featured a dogwood blossom. He won multiple awards for his works, and received a merit award for his painting at the Springfield Art Museum’s Area Show of Painting, Sculpture and Prints in 1964. His work can be found in the Springfield Art Museum’s permanent collection.

Kennon died on September 20, 1984, in Springfield.