RAiR | 1975

Lee Johnson 

Lee K. Johnson (1935 - 2023) was born in Albion, Nebraska. He received his BA from the Minneapolis School of Art in 1961 and his MFA from the University of New Mexico in 1963. In 1960, he was awarded a fellowship with the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine and was responsible for connecting the RAiR program with the Skowhegan school. He served as the Assistant Director and Curator at the Roswell Museum and Art Center, and as the first program Director of the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program. Seven years later, Lee returned to Roswell to participate in the program as an artist. From 1968 to 2003, he was a professor at Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. Lee held over 30 solo exhibitions in New Mexico and Colorado. After 48 years of working in acrylics, he returned to oil painting in 2012.