Wilber Moore Stilwell

Wilber Moore Stilwell was an artist, educator, author and inventor. In addition to his prolific career as a painter, he and his wife, Gladys Ferree Stilwell, passionately contributed to the field of art education, collaboratively writing articles, organizing exhibitions, and patenting new inventions. 

Wilber Moore Stilwell was born in Covington, Indiana, in 1908. He grew up in Emporia, Kansas, where his father was an attorney. Stilwell attended the Kansas City Art Institute from 1929 to 1933, and his creative talents were immediately recognized. In addition to teaching junior drawing classes, he was chosen to paint a mural for the Lindberg Theatre, and won multiple prizes from the Missouri State Fair and Midwestern Artists' Exhibitions. He soon married Gladys Louise Ferree, an artist also from Emporia, Kansas.

After graduating, Stilwell returned to Emporia for two years and taught private art lessons. In 1934, he completed a large mural series with artist Isabel Schreiber at the University of Kansas's Dyche Natural History Museum. Their dioramas illustrated prehistoric life in Kansas. From 1935-1939, Stilwell worked as Registrar at the Kansas City Art Institute and established an annual scholarship competition. In 1938, he was listed in Who's Who In American Art.

In 1940, Stilwell earned a bachelor's of science degree in education at the Kansas State Teachers College in Hays, then completed his master's of fine arts degree at the University of Iowa. He would soon begin a thirty-year career at the University of South Dakota as chair of the new art department, expanding the curriculum and organizing the local art community.

Wilber Moore Stilwell and Gladys Ferree Stilwell collaboratively wrote about art education and published many articles outlining their ideas. They invented new craft methods for children and patented a design for some of the first child-safety scissors. The couple received an award from the American Artists Professional League for books they jointly published in 1962, 1963, 1964, and 1965. In 1962, the couple received an award from the American Artists Professional League for a book they jointly published.

In 1966, Wilber Moore Stilwell was awarded the National Gallery of Art Medal for Distinguished Service to Education. The same year, he received a gold medal for Distinguished Service to American Art from the American Artists' Professional League. He was listed continuously in Who's Who in America during his career. Stilwell died unexpectedly in 1974 while visiting family in Kansas City. After his death, Gladys Ferree Stilwell established The Stilwell Annual Student Awards Exhibition at the University of South Dakota, where it is still held annually. The university mounted two large retrospectives of Stilwell's work in 2001 and 2009, and holds an extensive collection of his work, notes and inventions.