Will Stokes Jr., prolific painter and longtime artist-in-residence at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, has died at 69
His paintings were colorful, gestural, and often abstract, and his vivid prints of animals, flowers, and exotic landscapes adorn clothing, ceramic mugs, umbrellas, handbags, and all kinds of other objects.
Will Stokes Jr., 69, of Philadelphia, prolific painter, printmaker, textile designer, and longtime artist-in-residence at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, died Friday, Dec. 27, of a heart attack at his home.
Celebrated by critics, collectors, and fellow artists for his thousands of distinctive paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, jewelry, soft toys, and other assorted creations, Mr. Stokes spent 47 years working in his small studio and collaborating with other artists at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. His paintings were colorful, gestural, and often abstract, and his vivid prints of animals, flowers, and exotic landscapes adorn clothing, ceramic mugs, umbrellas, handbags, and all kinds of other objects.
He grew up in Philadelphia, lived for a while with family in Baltimore, and was a fixture, since its founding in 1977, at the Fabric Workshop and Museum. FWM founder Marion Boulton Stroud made him her first apprentice and, working all day every day, he produced countless pieces of his signature art.
His giant portfolio includes lively abstract portraits of historical figures and modern celebrities, paintings of animals in all sorts of unexpected landscapes, stuffed teddy bears and alligators, and jewelry made from old knickknacks. He used color and shape freely, and his pieces evoked, colleagues said, feelings of isolation, solitude, joy, and conviviality simultaneously.
They said his work was “a glimpse of ourselves without restraint,” and his imagination was “undeterred by conditions contrary to fact.” In a 2007 review, former Inquirer art critic Edward J. Sozanski called Mr. Stokes an “intuitively inventive artist” and praised his “dazzling combinations of high-voltage colors.”
Sozanski said: “Stokes has produced some of the region’s liveliest and most endearing images over the last three decades.”
Mr. Stokes also helped with museum tours and workshop activities. He was affable and dependable, and coworkers noted his “quiet, kind spirit” and called him a “sweetheart.”
He was fascinated by people, plants, animals, and art. He collected discarded objects on his daily hikes around town, and his workspace was crowded with old baby carriages, tattered teddy bears, and other castaway items that caught his attention.
He especially studied the styles of Henri Matisse and Raoul Dufy, and, like them, he experimented with new techniques every few years. He championed artistic variety, and Stroud called him “the Picasso of self-taught artists” in 2007.
Kelly Shindler, executive director of the FWM, called Mr. Stokes a “deeply creative and kind soul” and a “singular artist” in a tribute. She said his studio was a “joyful space that embodies Willie’s playful spirit.” She said: “Will Stokes Jr. is part of the very DNA of the Fabric Workshop and Museum.”
Mr. Stokes held solo shows at the FWM, Janet Fleisher Gallery, Painted Bride Art Center, Esther M. Klein Gallery, and the University of North Carolina. He showed with others in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago, Sydney, Australia, and elsewhere around the world.
Dozens of private collectors have purchased his work. His most well-known pieces are called “Hidden,” “Nude Figures,” “Alligators,” and “Animals and Butterflies.”
Mr. Stokes got his start in organized art in the 1970s at the Prints in Progress after-school program in Philadelphia. He lived with dyslexia and was struggling academically at Thomas Edison High School when he learned of the printmaking workshop. He found his niche.
He was so naturally talented and eager to collaborate that Stroud and other mentors helped him earn other artist-in-residence positions at prestigious art centers in New York and California. With their help, he also studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Fleisher Art Memorial, and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine.
“I will forever be in awe of how dedicated a person was to their craft.”
Christina Roberts, director of education at the FWM, said: “His art and life will continue to inspire and remind us of the power of imagination and kindness.”
Willie James Stokes Jr. was born Nov. 5, 1955, in Philadelphia. He was quiet as a boy, his family said, and always good at art.
He graduated from Edison in 1974 and worked for the city sanitation department before going full-time at the FWM. He rode his bicycle everywhere around town, listened to R&B music in his studio, and doted on his pet turtle, Michael Jackson.
He was “gently and politely indefinable,” Roberts said. “He was one of a kind.”
Mr. Stokes is survived by two sisters, a brother, and other relatives. Three sisters died earlier.
A celebration of his life is to be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 15, at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, 1214 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.
Donations in his name may be made to the American Heart Association, Box 840692, Dallas, Texas 75284.