biography of Millard Owen SHEETS (1907-1989)

Birth place: Pomona, CA

Death place: Gualala, CA

Addresses: Claremont, CA; Los Angeles, Gualala, CA

Profession: Designer, painter, etcher, illustrator, mural painter

Studied: Chouinard Art Inst.,1925-29, with Chamberlin and Hinkle; with Theodore Modra; Otis Art Inst. (M.F.A., 1963); Univ. Notre Dame (honorary L.L.D., 1964).

Exhibited: Los Angeles County Fair, 1918 (prize), 1928, (prize), 1930 (prize); Calif. WCS, 1927 (prize); Arizona State Fair, 1928-30 (prize); San Antonio, 1929 (prize); PAFA Ann., 1929-40 (4 times); Dalzell Hatfield Gal., Los Angeles, 1929 (first solo); LACMA, 1930, 1932 (prize), 1945 (prize); Calif. State Fair, 1930 (prize), 1932 (prize), 1933 (prize), 1938 (prize); Santa Cruz AL, 1931 (prize), 1932 (prize); Oakland Art Gal., 1932; P&S C., 1932 (prize); Corcoran Gal biennials, 1932-49 (6 times); Foundation of Western Art, 1936; AIC, 1938 (prize); WFNY, 1939; GGE, 1939; WMAA, 1939; Pasadena Art Inst., 1950 (solo); MM, 1960; Denver Art Mus.; Faulkner Mem. Gal.; Currier Gal. Art; BMFA; VMFA; CI; CAM; Albright Art Gal.; Kansas City AI; Nebraska AA; Delgado Mus. Art (solo); Brooks Mem. Art Gal.; Springfield Art Mus.; Rochester Mem. Art Gal.; High Mus. Art; Honolulu Acad. Art; Milch Gal.; Univ. Nebraska; Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Member: Laguna Beach AA; NA, 1947; Calif. AC; Calif. WCS; AWCS; Soc. Motion Picture Art Directors; Bohemian Club.

Work: MMA; MoMA; AIC; CI; LACMA; Scripps College; The White House, Wash., DC; San Diego Mus.; SFMA; Los Angeles Pub. Lib; BM; CMA; Smithsonian Inst.; SAM; de Young Mus.; NMAA; High Mus., Atlanta; Wood Art Gal., Montpellier, VT; Hackley Art Center, Muskegon, MI. Commissions: Libr. tower granite mosaic, Univ. Notre Dame, South Bend, IN; mosaic dome & chapel, Nat Shrine, Wash., DC; mosaic facade, Detroit Pub. Libr.; mural, Rainbow Tower, Hilton Hotel, Honolulu, HI; two large murals, Los Angeles City Hall, East Los Angeles, CA; numerous banks, savings & loans, and murals in California & Texas.

Comments: He chose as the main subject of his paintings the West coast urban poor. Positions: artist, Life magazine, Burma-India front, 1943-44; U.S. State Dept. Specialist Progam to Turkey & Russia, 1960-61; trustee, Scripps College, 1966-70; trustee, Calif. Inst. Arts, 1968-. Teaching: Chouinard Art Inst., 1928-35; prof. art, Scripps College, 1931-, head dept. art, 1932-55; director, Otis Art Inst., 1955-62.

Sources: WW73; WW47; Falk, Exh. Record Series. More recently, see Hughes, Artists in California, 509.