Roland Stebbins

BORN: May 22, 1883 in Boston, Mass.

DIED: 1974, Wisconsin

Stebbins was born in Massachusetts to Ida H. Stebbins (a prominent artist and succesful painter) and Frank H. Slack, a clerk. Roland Stewart Slack was born on May 22, 1883. It seems likely that Frank H. Slack died in the mid-1880s since on December 3, 1889, records indicate that Ida and Roland changed their last name back to her maiden name of Stebbins.

Roland Stewart Stebbins (1883-1974) inherited his mother’s interest in art, studying at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Columbia University in New York (studying under Charles Hawthorne), and the Art Students League of New York. He also studied at the Académie de la Grand Chaumière and the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.

He moved to Wisconsin where he became a well known painter, illustrator, ceramist and educator. Stebbins was a teacher at the Milwaukee Vocational Schools, and a Professor at UW-Madison in the 1930s and 1940s, including heading the Art Department. Today, he is remembered for his marine and genre paintings and for his legacy as a respected professor of art education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Many exhibitions of his work have been held. 

He was a member of the Wisconsin Art Teachers Society, Society of Milwaukee Artists (the first professional association of artists in Wisconsin), Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors Society, later called the WI Painters & Sculptors Artists in all Media and now the Wisconsin Visual Artists (WVA).

Mr. Stebbins was a WPA and New Deal artist. 

After retiring from UW Madison, Roland Stebbins, moved to Florida. In 1950 he started teaching about 20 aspiring amateurs in vacant storage building in Ocaean Ridge, FL. Two years later, the group held its first art show, a casual celebration of its efforts. 

The Gallery seeks quality artwork by Roland Stebbins.

Please fill out the contact us form, stating your interest and we will also let you know when artwork becomes available. Thank you.