Ila Mae McAfee

Ila Mae McAfee (October 21, 1897[1] or 1900[2] – April 18, 1995) aka Ila Turner McAfee – American painter, muralist, illustrator and author born in or near Gunnison, Colorado known for her miniatures and as an animalier and muralist. She is best remembered for her paintings of horses, Western themes, landscapes, and portraits of Pueblos.

Ila McAfee
Born(1897-10-27)October 27, 1897
Gunnison, Colorado
DiedApril 18, 1995(1995-04-18) (aged 97)
Pueblo, Colorado
Resting placeSanta Fe National Cemetery
NationalityAmerican
Alma materWestern State Colorado University
National Academy of Design
Art Institute of Chicago
Known forPainting
Spouse(s)Elmer Turner

McAfee studied at Western State Colorado College, at the Art Students League, the National Academy of Design[3] and with James E. McBurney in Chicago.

During the Depression McAfee created post office murals through the Section of Painting and Sculpture in Gunnison, Colorado,[4] Clifton, Texas,[5] Cordell, Oklahoma[6] and Edmond, Oklahoma.[7] As a tribute to her mother-in-law, Edith Turner, McAfee presented three murals to the public library of Greeley, Colorado where Mrs. Turner had served as Assistant Librarian for many years.[8]

McAfee was the author and illustrator of Indians, Horses, Hills, Et Cetera[9] and the illustrator for Historic Costume: A Resume of Style and Fashion From Remote Times to the Nineteen Seventies by Katherine Morris Lester.[10]

Ila met her husband, painter Elmer Page Turner, when they were both art students in Chicago.[11] They were married in 1926 and moved to Taos, New Mexico in 1928.[12] Both are buried in the Santa Fe National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[13][14]

In 1981 she was designated Taos Artist of the Year.[15]

Clifton post office mural

References
  1. Petteys, Chris, "Dictionary of Women Artists: An international dictionary of women artists born before 1900", G.K. Hall & Co., Boston, 1985
  2. Gilbert, Dorothy B., ed., Who's Who in American Art, The American Federation of Arts, R.R. Bowker Company, NY 1963
  3. Heller, Jules and Nancy G, Heller, ed., "North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary" Garland Reference Library of the Humanities (Vol. 1219), Garland Publishing Company, New York & London, 1995
  4. "Post Office Mural – Gunnison CO". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  5. "Post Office Mural – Clifton TX". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  6. "Post Office Mural – Cordell OK". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  7. "Municipal Courthouse Mural – Edmond OK". Living New Deal. Retrieved 2016-03-21.
  8. Nelson, Mary Carroll (1980). The Legendary Artists of Taos. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 140. ISBN 0823027457.
  9. "Indians, Horses, Hills, Et Cetera". LibraryThing.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  10. "Historic Costume: A Resume of Style and Fashion From Remote Times to the Nineteen-Seventies by Katherine Morris Lester". LibraryThing.com. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  11. McAfee, Ila (1981). Indians, Horses, Hills, Et Cetera. Taos, NM: Ila McAfee.
  12. Porter, Dean (1999). Taos artists and their patrons, 1898-1950. Notre Dame, Indiana: Snite Museum of Art. p. 377. ISBN 0826321097.
  13. "Ila McAfee Turner (1897–1995) – Find A Grave Memorial". Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  14. "Elmer Page Turner (1890–1966) – Find A Grave Memorial". Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  15. Kovinick, Phil; Yoshiki-Kovinick, Marian (1998). An Encyclopedia of Women Artists. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 209. ISBN 0292790635.


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