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Show Page Four - The Springville Herald - March IS, 1982 0)WKI(23 into to Art was always a significant part of the pioneer life in Utah and it received a significant boost when John Hafen, an artist from Switzerland settled in Payson, Utah. He encouraged a youngster, John B, Fairbanks, to stop by his studio and watch him paint. Johnny had always demonstrated an interest in drawing and was on his way to a baseball game when Mr. Hafen invited him into his studio. After just a few minutes watching the talented artist, John decided to give up baseball and work at his painting. He had been born on December 27, 1855, the son of John Boylston and Sarah VanWagoner Fairbanks. John demonstrated such a talent for painting that he and John Hafen, Edwin Evans and Laurs Pratt were sent to Paris by the LDS Church to study art in preparation for painting murals in the LDS Temples. His two-year stay in Europe was concluded when professors at the Julian Academy told him there was nothing more that the school could offer. "You've learned all we can teach." As a result of this training John B. painted murals for the Church in Salt Lake, St. George arid Arizona Temples. He spent two years in Canada farming, but returned to Utah after crop failures. His training in Paris encouraged his oldest son, John Leo, to go to Europe and study for a career as a sculptor and artist. John became an art instructor at theBrigham Young Academy in Provo, teaching classes which were contracted to John Hafen but which he did not have time to teach. The check was divided between Mr. Fairbanks and Mr. Evans, who also assisted in the Art Department Depart-ment at the Academy. From this beginning John B. became art director of the Ogden City Schools for a time. Later he returned to Provo, where on the 12 May 1898 his wife, Lillie, died as a result of an accident in the family home. John was called to go with President Benjamin Cluff , of the Brigham Young Academy, on the Cluff Expedition to South America as the official artist-photographer. artist-photographer. This was a two-year undertaking which concluded shortly after the turn of the century. By this time J. Leo had begun his professional career and shortly before World War I John B., went back to Paris, this time taking his youngest son, Avard, for a few years of study at the Julian Academy. The outbreak of the war forced them to flee Europe by way of Holland. The father, John B., soon became a leader in the Utah art circles in Ogden and Salt Lake and was instrumental in establishing the Utah State Institute of Fine Art. He also encouraged the beginning of an art exhibit as part of the annual Utah State Fair, where he won several of the honors of the year. Over the years he painted murals in the Highland Park Ward Chapel in Salt Lake City, for the Century of Progress World's Fair in 1933 and was represented in the San Diego Exposition. Ex-position. His work hangs in the Utah State Capitol, Brigham Young University, Springville Museum of Art, countless homes about the nation and he became well known for his copies of the old masters. When he died in 1940, three members of the family had gained national recognition for their paintings and sculpture. John Leo became an art instructor in the Salt Lake City schools, was head of the Art Department for the school system when he moved to Corvallis, Oregon, to become head of the Art Department at the Oregon State University. His training in Europe had included study at the Julian Academy, Ecole Nat Nationale et Speciale des Beaux Ai ts and the Grand Chaumiere and Academy of Colorossi. He also studied in New York University and Columbia University and had matriculated at BYU as a young student. Commissions in both sculpture and art took J. Leo to New York, Hawaii, Nevada and Oregon and he became a member of the Utah Art Institute and served as president for four years before going to the Northwest. In his life-time he was a member of the American Federation of Artists, a director of the Pacific Art Association, John B. Fairbanks and son Avard Fairbanks in IIIIIIIIIliiM ' SSmSSM y $t(:'; I -' ''dr - ' - ' - ? c ., J, v''" ', ' ' " ' j! " ' & '''''''' ' ' ' iDiiiBfeal:,, ai ivgwi - "Rain" a garden or fountain sculpture by Avard Fairbanks will be the focal point for the Springville Museum of Art "Art Ball" March 27 at 8 p.m. The work was originally created for and exhibited in the lilXt North American Flower Show in Detroit, Michigan. Subsequently Sub-sequently it was placed in the renowned Brookgreen Gardens of South Carolina. "Rain" was displayed in a rock garden fountain in Mirtaini ' " 1 llll?Ir1fllgl MARCH 27 - 8:30 P.M. TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE MUSEUM APRIL ART SALON - REFRESHMENTS - PROGRAM SPRINGVILLE MUSEUM OF ART LTD Art Bal the fasliionalbe Beau Brummel restaurant in Salt Lake City for several years. After the restaurant closed, "Rain" returned into the possession of the Fairbanks family. The four-foot high bronze work was donated to Springville Museum of Art in November 1981. The Fairbanks Family and its contribution to the art field will be featured at the art ball. to a member of the advisory council of the American Federation of Art and the Federal Council of Art Education, the American Artist's Professional League and the American Association of University Professors, the Oregon Artist's Society and Triad Club of Corvallis. After a varied career which included sculpture, architecture, jewelry designing and city planning, J. Leo completed several murals for LDS buildings and a series of illustrations of the Book of Mormon. At his death in 1946 he was honored by having the Art Center at the University bear his name. During this eventful career of his oldest brother, Avard accompanied his father to Europe after a period of study in New York. During the war which forced them out of Paris, Avard was thus inspired to do several monuments to the soldiers. Two of the most significant being The Doughboy of Idaho and the 91st Division Monument at Fort Lewis, Washington. Excited about art education, Avard pursued his education at the University of Washington, Yale and the University of Michigan, where he acquired a degree (Ph.D) in anatomy, becoming the highest degreed artist in America. He has completed 27 significant statues of Abraham Lincoln, has done portraits (sculpture) of many of the presidents of the United States, most significant of which are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and more recent ones such as John F. Kennedy. For the LDS Church he has completed com-pleted more than a score of monuments on religious subjects including the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood and the Melchizedek Priesthood, Joseph and Hyrum Smith and statues of the Angel Moroni adorn some of the Church Temples. His most recent statues, which by 1982 numbered hundreds, include the Dominguez-Escalante monument in Spanish Fork, Utah, the American Family and Motherhood statues recently dedicated in Provo, Utah. At age 85 Avard has pursued an art career which began when he was age 12 and spanned the lifetime of his older brother, J. Leo and much of the later years of his father, John B. When John B. Fairbanks died in 1940 he was the father of 12 living sons and two daughters, two sons had preceded him in death, and his posterity numbered num-bered over 150 persons. While his career was enhancing the art world in . Utah his son, J. Leo was an important ; cultural influence in the Northwest and ' Avard was having an impact in Michigan, the east and Europe. Twenty years after his first wife died, John B. had married Florence Gifford of Springdale, Utah, and they raised four sons, one daughter, a niece from infancy and provided a home for . several cousins who traveled to Salt Lake City to attend school and live with Uncle J. B. and Aunt Florence. In March 1982, when Avard was given a special birthday party at age 85 in Provo, Utah, it was determined that in addition to John B. Fairbanks, as head of the family art-dynasty, three brothers, J. Leo, Avard and Oliver Kendall of the second family, have been joined by more than a dozen family members who were pursuing careers in art. This includes grandsons, great-grandsons, great-grandsons, but does not include several very artistic individuals who have married into the family. The Fairbanks Family is truly one of the West's significant art dynasties and John B. . Fairbanks set an example which is an inspiration for his descendants to follow. Although J. Leo had no children, Avard, who married Beatrice Maud Fox in June of 1918 has eight sons and two daughters. Several of John's sons and grandsons are professional artists. Many of his descendants show ability in art, music, literature, painting and sculpture and have hobbies in these lines. The Fairbanks Family has done much to encourage the Springville Art Exhibit. They have contributed of their art work to help make it a success. All of John B's sons are very talented and could have been successful in the art field had they desired to pursue it. ;!: if XMm&i- ;:;5'! f f iiii ' :iJi n illliilllSP,''i 1 'r' TiniiPiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitii fe.-? i.0?' he? he wa8 rt supervisor of all Paris. 1914. C . wmv V.iJ .'. uk vuy ovnoois. (4 |