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Arthur Roy Mitchell Biography
150 East Main St. |
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Arthur Roy Mitchell, renowned Western
artist and historian, was born on his father's homestead west of
Trinidad, Colorado. In 1907 he hired on as a ranch hand in New
Mexico. By his late teens, he was sketching scenes if the cowboy life and doing political cartoons for newspapers. Following service in World War I, Mitch traveled to New York, where he studied art with master teacher Harvey Dunn, with George Bridgman and others. During the next 20 years he created over 160 cover paintings for Western pulp magazines. Summers were spent painting in Colorado and the Southwest. In 1944 Mitchell returned to Trinidad and started the first art class at Trinidad State Junior College. He continued teaching there for 14 years. In 1959 he designed the official Rush to the Rockies emblem commemorating the 1859 Colorado gold rush. Concurrently, Mitchell sought to preserve and restore a historic complex of Trinidad buildings- the Baca House, the Bloom Mansion, and the Pioneer Museum. He served as the complex curator until 1975. "Mitch", as he was affectionately known, received the Honorary Trustees Award from the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma city in 1976. |
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