{{Short description|American artist (1938–2021)}} {{Infobox person | name = Bob Ragland | image = Bob_Ragland.jpeg | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_name = Robert L. Ragland | birth_date = {{Birth date|1938|12|11}} | birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio | death_date = {{Death date and age|2021|4|10|1938|12|11}} | death_place = | nationality = <!-- use only when necessary per WP:INFONAT --> | other_names = | occupation = Artist, teacher, author, activist, television host | years_active = | known_for = Namesake for Bob Ragland branch of the Denver Public Library | notable_works = }}

'''Bob Ragland''' (December 11, 1938 – April 10, 2021) was an artist and teacher based in Denver, Colorado. He is best known for his oil paintings and his found object sculptures, as well as his practical "Non-Starving Artist" philosophy. The Bob Ragland Branch of the Denver Public Library is named in his honor.

== Early life and education == Robert L. "Bob" Ragland was born in 1938 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Carey and Violet Ragland.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mullen |first=David |date=2021-04-21 |title=Teacher, award-winning artist, and longtime Denver resident Bob Ragland dies at 82 |url=https://denvergazette.com/news/local/teacher-award-winning-artist-and-longtime-denver-resident-bob-ragland-dies-at-82/article_e1bcb994-a48b-11eb-b752-67fa1d3de1ea.html |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Denver Gazette |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Nicholson |first=Kieran |date=2021-04-15 |title=Denver artist and art champion Bob Ragland dies at his home at age 82 |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2021/04/15/artist-bob-ragland-dies-at-82/ |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=The Denver Post |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Flute Player with Corn Row Hair by Bob Ragland |url=https://www.kirklandmuseum.org/collections/work/flute-player-with-corn-row-hair/ |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Kirkland Museum |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2022-08-02 |title=Bob Ragland (1938 - 2021) |url=https://history.denverlibrary.org/colorado-biographies/bob-ragland-1938-2021 |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Denver Public Library History |language=en}}</ref> His parents were from Georgia and Alabama, respectively, and had moved north during the Great Migration.<ref name=":3" />

At age 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, which brought him to Colorado's Fort Carson. The state would become his longtime home.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /> In 1959, after completing his military service, he settled in Denver, where he worked for the U.S. Postal Service and produced advertising materials for a local business.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />

While in Denver, Ragland began to study art at the Rocky Mountain School of Art. He also attended the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, where he learned to weld.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

== Career == As an artist, Ragland worked across various mediums, including painting, drawing, and sculpture.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Mullen |first=David |date=2022-04-21 |title=Newest Denver library to be named after well-known local artist |url=https://denvergazette.com/arts-entertainment/newest-denver-library-to-be-named-after-well-known-local-artist/article_eef5eed4-c1bb-11ec-a0d3-23f42d1cf07f.html |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Denver Gazette |language=en}}</ref> He made cartoons, jewelry, and more, but he is perhaps best known for his oil on masonite panels and sculptures using found objects.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />

Several of his pieces, including "Flute Player With Corn Row Hair" (1990), are in the collection of Denver's Kirkland Museum.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Gosalvez |first=Joe |date=2022-04-21 |title=Community Selects the Name of Newest Denver Public Library Branch |url=https://www.denverlibrary.org/blog/library-news/jgosalvez/community-selects-name-newest-denver-public-library-branch |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Denver Public Library}}</ref> President Jimmy Carter and Colorado Lt. Gov. George L. Brown were among those who commissioned pieces by Ragland throughout his career.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> He exhibited his work widely beginning in 1964, and he was known for regularly mounting shows on the porch of his home in Denver's Whittier neighborhood.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" />

Ragland also taught art, including at the Denver Public Schools Career Education Center, where he ran what he dubbed the "Non-Starving Artist Program." The program focused on teaching practical skills to make life as a working artist possible, such as marketing and networking.<ref name=":0" /> His often-repeated mantra reflected his view that artists had to be realistic about making a living: "Bread and shelter has to be paid for, I’ve got to heat and eat."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hendee |first=Caitlin |date=2017-10-04 |title=Forget the whole 'starving artist' thing, says Denver painter-sculptor Bob Ragland |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2017/10/04/forget-the-whole-starving-artist-thing-says-denver.html |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Denver Business Journal}}</ref> He also taught at the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, George Washington High School, and Bradley Elementary.<ref name=":5" />

In the 1980s, he wrote two books about his philosophy as an artist: ''The Artist's Question and Answer Book'' and ''The Artist's Survival Handbook (or, What to Do Till You're Rich and Famous).''<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" /> In the 1970s, Ragland hosted the show "You're an Artist" on Rocky Mountain PBS.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooke |first=Kyle |date=2022-03-16 |title=Denver Public Library opens voting for name of newest branch |url=https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/news/denver-public-library-artpark-branch-new-name/ |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=RMPBS |language=en}}</ref>

Ragland was involved in community activism in his Denver neighborhood, particularly in the 1960s and '70s, when he was active with the East Side Action Center.<ref name=":3" />

== Personal life, death, and legacy == Bob Ragland and his wife had three sons and several grandchildren.<ref name=":0" />

Ragland died in April 2021 at the age of 82.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> A frequent Denver Public Library user, he was selected the following year as the namesake for the new Bob Ragland Branch Library, which has a focus on community arts.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> A portrait of Ragland by fellow artist and friend Dean Mitchell has been displayed at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == * [https://mediaspace.du.edu/media/Rags+to+Riches/1_4d85z4al A short documentary about Bob Ragland]

{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ragland, Bob}}

Category:1938 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Artists from Denver Category:21st-century African-American artists Category:20th-century American art educators Category:Artists from Cleveland Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Writers from Denver Category:African-American television personalities Category:American public access television personalities Category:21st-century American art educators