Will Rogers Museum To Feature Works By Charles Banks Wilson

A permanent exhibit of works by artist Charles Banks Wilson is set to open by next month at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore.

The exhibit will feature various portraits Wilson created of Rogers. Wilson, who died last May in Arkansas at age 94, was just a boy when he first saw Rogers at the Coleman Theatre in Miami, Okla.

That encounter led to Wilson's lifelong fascination with the American humorist. One of Wilson's portraits of Oklahoma's favorite son is on permanent display at Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

But Rogers wasn't Wilson's only subject. Wilson also created portraits of other famous Oklahomans, including Cherokee Indian Sequoyah, Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe and Congressman Carl Albert, among others. Several of the portraits adorn the state Capitol.

5/3/2013 Related Story: Oklahoma's Own Artist Charles Banks Wilson Dies At 94