Willard Stone

Willard Stone (February 29, 1916 – March 5, 1985) was an American artist from Oklahoma best known for his wood sculptures carved in a flowing Art Deco style.

Background Stone was born and raised in Oktaha, Oklahoma. He took art classes at Bacone College, where he studied under Acee Blue Eagle (Muscogee) and Woody Crumbo (Citizen Potawatomi). He developed a distinctive modern style influenced by Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and took on contemporary topics such as nuclear warfare as well as less stylized works inspired by nature.

Stone identified as being of Cherokee descent making his claims of Native American identity a source of controversy. The Cherokee Nation, during Chief Wilma Mankiller's administration, designated Stone as a tribal artisan in 1991, which allowed him to present his artwork as being American Indian-made under the 1990 Indian Arts and Crafts Act.

Stone's sculpture Exodus, in the collection of the Cherokee Heritage Center, is especially well known and was used extensively in Cherokee publications. Stone's "Lady of Spring" was included in the 1997-98 White House art exhibition "Twentieth Century American Sculpture at The White House: Honoring Native America." The guide to the White House exhibition calls Stone "the unsung hero of Native American sculpture", and describes "Lady of Spring" (an elongated female nude) as "classic Art Deco," comparing it to the nudes of Alberto Vargas and "Spring Awakening" by Ferdinand Preiss.

In 2009, the Gilcrease Museum held its first major exhibition in 20 years devoted to Stone's work, entitled "Storyteller in Wood." The museum's goal is to relocate to the historic building that housed the first bank in Locust Grove, located in downtown and built in 1912, to house the collection. In 2019 the museum’s board of directors authorized build-out of the new facility, and in September 2020 launched a fundraising campaign to finance the needed renovations.

Personal life Stone, who died in 1985, was survived by son Jason M. “Briggs” Stone, a sculptor in his own right, who was born in 1945 and died in 2021. Other children included Irene “Skez” Stone, Nettie Sanders, Evelyn Holland, Lyda Henson, Linda Callery Grant Stone, Danny Stone, Dwight Stone, Rocky Stone, and Michel Stone.