Ila Mae McAfee (October 21, 1897 or 1900 – April 18, 1995), also known as Ila McAfee Turner, was an American painter, muralist, illustrator and author. She was born in or near

Gunnison, Colorado Gunnison is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gunnison County, Colorado. The city population was 6,560 at the 2020 United States Census. Gunnison was named in honor of John W. Gunnison, a Uni ...

and known for her miniatures and as an

animalier An animalier (, ) is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists. Although the work may be in any genre ...

and

muralist A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

. She is best remembered for her paintings of horses,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

themes, landscapes, and portraits of

Pueblos The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos Pueblo, Taos, San Ildefonso ...

. McAfee studied at Western State Colorado College, at the

Art Students League The Art Students League of New York is an art school at American Fine Arts Society, 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists ...

, the

National Academy of Design The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fin ...

Heller, Jules and Nancy G, Heller, ed., "North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary" Garland Reference Library of the Humanities (Vol. 1219), Garland Publishing Company, New York & London, 1995 and with James E. McBurney in Chicago. During the Depression McAfee created

post office murals United States post office murals are notable examples of New Deal art produced during the years 1934–1943. They were commissioned through a competitive process by the United States Department of the Treasury. Some 1,400 murals were created ...

through the

Section of Painting and Sculpture The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

Clifton, Texas Clifton is the largest city in Bosque County, in Central Texas in the United States. The city's population was 3,442 at the 2010 census. Geography Clifton is located at (31.780275, –97.580825). According to the United States Census Bureau, ...

Cordell, Oklahoma New Cordell is a city in, and county seat of, Washita County, Oklahoma, United States. It lies along U.S. Route 183. The population was 2,915 at the 2010 census. The community was previously established a few miles from the current site, but was ...

and

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest cit ...

. As a tribute to her mother-in-law, Edith Turner, McAfee presented three murals to the public library of

Greeley, Colorado Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 ...

, where Mrs. Turner had served as Assistant Librarian for many years. McAfee was the author and illustrator of ''Indians, Horses, Hills, Et Cetera'' and the illustrator for ''Historic Costume: A Resume of Style and Fashion From Remote Times to the Nineteen Seventies'' by Katherine Morris Lester. Ila met her husband, painter Elmer Page Turner, when they were both art students in Chicago. They were married in 1926 and moved to

Taos, New Mexico Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Cha ...

in 1928. Both are buried in the

Santa Fe National Cemetery Santa Fe National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of Santa Fe, in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. It encompasses , and as of 2021, had 68,000 interments. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

. In 1981 she was designated Taos Artist of the Year. Mountain Lions SAAM-1964

References

Year of birth uncertain 1995 deaths American muralists American women painters 20th-century American painters Artists from Taos, New Mexico Art Students League of New York alumni Painters from Colorado 20th-century American women artists Artists of the American West Section of Painting and Sculpture artists People from Gunnison, Colorado Western Colorado University alumni National Academy of Design alumni Women muralists Public Works of Art Project artists Burials at Santa Fe National Cemetery {{US-painter-1900s-stub