Artist on the Southwest Road: Willard J. Page – Florence

Willard J. Page, 1885-1958, worked as a quick-draw artist with the Redpath-Horner Chautauqua, but when that work ended about 1920, he turned to painting miniature landscapes, souvenirs, or “suitcase art.” Because his wife, Ethel, suffered from crippling arthritis, Willard built a camper on a Dodge chassis, and the couple spent winters traveling from their home in Colorado through the Southwest, selling art along the way. Willard especially loved Arizona where he painted scenes of the desert, the Catalina and Superstition Mountains, and the Grand Canyon. With the demise of the Chautauqua and into the Depression years, Willard Page twice reinvented his career, never giving up his passion to paint. His miniature landscapes promoted Arizona and the Southwest, and through his work he made art accessible to tourists and everyday people. Over the years, Willard Page painted thousands of tiny paintings, most selling for less than $2.00, miniature landscape jewels that now hang in homes across the country.

Carolyn O’Bagy Davis, a fourth-generation descendant of Utah pioneers, is the author of 14 books on archaeology, quilting and the history of the Southwest. Her book Hopi Summer was selected for OneBook Arizona for 2011 and Desert Trader was named one of the Best Books of the Southwest in  2012. She was founding president of the Tucson Quilters Guild and Old Pueblo Archaeology Center and is an inducted member of the Society of Women Geographers and the Arizona Quilters Hall of Fame. Davis has appeared on HGTV, PBS, and Lifetime television programs and has curated many traveling museum exhibits.