Willard Frederick Elmes Biography

Also known as
Willard Frederic Elms

A former art teacher at the Art Institute of Chicago who received his art education there, Willard Elms owned his own studio in Chicago with his main client being the Sears Roebuck catalog. He also was an announcer for WGN radio. He came to Arizona with a well established reputation as a poster and fashion artist.

He settled in Tucson in 1949 and painted numerous landscapes, scenes of San Xavier del Bac Mission at sunset, and Indian genre. He did commission work for the Santa Fe railroad such as a little Indian boy looking for the Santa Fe Chief and others.

Willard Frederick Elmes was one of the artists for the US Mather & Co in making their Motivational Advertising Poster series Mather Work Incentive posters were designed to improve worker productivity.  Motivational Advertising Poster series Mather Work Incentive posters were designed to improve worker productivity and stem turnover during a time of economic expansion and plentiful jobs.

Around 1950, he took his family to Sedona because he was taken with the beauty of the area and the culture of the Navajo people.

In 1952, an exhibition of his work was held at the Camelback Galleries in Scottsdale. He received his art training from the Chicago Art Institute.

He died in Sedona, Arizona May 2, 1956, while building a house.