Modesta Dorsett Richerson

Modesta Dorsett Richerson was a Kansas City artist who was known for her encaustic painting with wax and endolithic painting with wax on marble, reviving and lecturing extensively on those arts.

She was born on January 4, 1905, and raised in Coolidge, Texas. She attended North Texas State Teachers College and earned an undergraduate degree, and then taught art in the Dallas Public Schools until 1930. In 1930, she moved to Kansas City, where she lived for sixty-four years. 

After moving to Kansas City, she was hired by Hallmark Cards Inc. and was responsible for finished drawings for seven years. Then she was an art instructor for the Barstow School for two years during her studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, where she received her master's of fine arts degree. She also worked as a designer for the Midwest Embroidery Company for eleven years. During her time there, she created more than 2,000 embroidery patterns for commercial use in draperies, furniture covers, and other types of textiles.

Richerson was well-known for her work in encaustic painting using hot wax. She demonstrated this method of painting at the Third International Encaustic Convention at East Washington University in Spokane, Washington. She was a frequent lecturer about this type of painting. Beginning in the 1930s and continuing throughout her life, Richerson presented numerous lectures and art demonstrations on a variety of topics, and she presented “chalk talks,” which were lectures illustrated with art.

She painted a mural for Oak Hall at Central United Methodist Church, on the theme of the history of the Methodist Church in Kansas City. Richerson also organized local artists to donate over 100 paintings and lithographs to Truman Medical Center, to be displayed in waiting rooms at the hospital. 

Richerson was active in several local Kansas City organizations. She was a lifetime member of the Kansas City Women’s Chamber of Commerce, and was voted “Woman of the Year” in 1964 by the Tiara Chapter of American Business Women. She also was elected president of the following organizations: Pilot Club, Greater Kansas City Art Association, Midwest Winter Art Fair, and the National League of American Pen Women (Kansas City, Missouri, Westport Chapter), where she served on the national board twice.

Modesta Dorsett Richerson died on October 30, 1997, in Lee's Summit, Missouri.