Artist Wesley Wehr, 74, was known for generosity

By Tan Vinh
Seattle Times staff reporter

	Wesley Wehr
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Wesley Wehr was an artist, composer, writer and paleobotanist who spent his life collecting artwork and fossilized plants and donating them to area museums.

His breadth of talent was exceeded only by his generosity, said friends, describing a man who gave away valuable pieces of art even as he lived in poverty and often worked without pay.

"He never had a driver's license. He never really had a job. He was always a volunteer," said Randy James, executor of Mr. Wehr's estate and his partner the past 19 years.

Mr. Wehr died Monday of a heart attack. He was 74.

Lisa Corrin, deputy director of art at the Seattle Art Museum, called Mr. Wehr irreplaceable — "an archive of this region's history."

Mr. Wehr is mostly known for his donations of artwork and memorabilia of famed artist Mark Tobey and for developing a world-class paleobotany collection at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.

Mr. Wehr, whose parents were from Norway, was born on April 17, 1929, in Everett and grew up in Stanwood and on Queen Anne Hill. He entered the University of Washington in 1947 as a music major.

One summer, he tutored Tobey and befriended the famous artist, who introduced him to Morris Graves and other painters.

Mr. Wehr took meticulous notes of their works and philosophies, and later became an artist himself, specializing in miniature landscapes. By the 1970s, his work was showcased around the world. But he told friends he was an archaeologist at heart.

In the early 1970s, he volunteered at the Burke Museum and was one of the staff members who uncovered one of the most important fossil fields on the West Coast — a buried lake bed in Republic, Ferry County, that dated back 50 million years.
 
More than 200 fossil species were uncovered, due largely to Mr. Wehr's efforts, Burke officials said.

In the early 1980s, Burke administrators named him affiliate curator, though he never trained in that field. Like much of his life's work, his time at the Burke museum was all voluntary.

Last November, he won the Paleontological Society's Harrell L. Strimple Award, an honor given to a contributor who doesn't make a living in that field.

Mr. Wehr was a crusader of keeping artwork in museums and away from private collectors. Although he was poor even during the last years of his life, he donated artworks by famous painters worth tens of thousands of dollars, many local artists said.

"It was incredible to see someone who lived on less than $400 a month," James, his partner, said. "He was one of the most generous people I have ever known."

Mr. Wehr told friends that not having a job freed him to pursue his interests. Among those were writing two books, "The Eighth Lively Art: Conversations With Painters, Poets, Musicians, and the Wicked Witch of the West," and also "The Accidental Collector: Art, Fossils, Friendships," which will be released in two weeks.

A close friend, Dale Stenning, said Mr. Wehr stipulated in his will that the rest of his artwork and memorabilia be sent to area libraries and museums.

Mr. Wehr was planning his 75th birthday party for tomorrow. That event now will be his memorial, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Nordic Heritage Museum, 3014 N.W. 67th St. It is open to the public.

Memorials may be made to the Wes Wehr Endowment for Paleobotany, the Burke Museum, Development Office, University of Washington, Box 353010, Seattle, WA 98195. Or to the Nordic Heritage Museum Endowment Fund.

He is survived by an uncle, Erling Hall, of Camano Island; an aunt, Rondi O'Gara, of Stanwood; and seven cousins.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com

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