Joseph Alma Freestone was a native of Salt Lake whose parents had emigrated from England as LDS converts. He studied with John Hafen (q.v.) and L.A. Ramsey (q.v.), L.G. Richards (q.v.); he went on to study watercolor with E.A. Smith at the Kensington School of Art, then under no particular master in Paris, and finally with the muralist Kenyon Cox in New York. After this, Everett went to work for the Oregon Short Line Railroad in its Salt Lake engineering department office as a draftsman. Nevertheless, he pursued the more supple and portable medium of watercolor in his off hours to quickly apprehend chance occurrences in nature. In time, Everett gave up his job with the railroad when his department was transferred to Omaha, and made the attempt to support his family via the opening of a school. It was tough, but he managed by teaching at the Lion House and also by giving private lessons to the children of such notables as President Heber J. Grant. He finally became successful enough that a Joseph Everett Art Society was founded by devoted students who wished to retain through fellowship with former classmates, at least a small degree of what had existed in painting sessions conducted by the master.

Thanks to the Springville Museum of Art for the foregoing biography.

This article about him appeared in the Deseret News in 1989. "A wide range of moods can be seen in two local shows - a retrospective exhibition of watercolors by Joseph A.F. Everett and ... . Everett's watercolors, now on display in the Main Gallery of the Salt Lake Art Center, reveal much of the personality of the artist. They are sensitive, tranquil and positive. They capture the freshness and the fragile moment of the Utah landscape the artist loved so much.

Indeed, Joseph Alma Freestone Everett (1883-1945) was both a sensitive artist and an extraordinary teacher. He touched many lives with a positive force. According to Robert S. Olpin, dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, he was one of the best-loved artists that Utah has ever produced.

Everett's style does not "jump off the walls." It doesn't carry an immediate impact that some viewers would enjoy seeing. But there is something very subtle and personable about his works that make them easy to converse with, like an old friend.

It was not the grand, impressive sights of Utah that attracted Everett. He was drawn to the common, everyday subject; those scenes that other artists considered mundane - undramatic scenes from the valley and canyons, people at work and bathers on the beach.

Although his paintings generally lack contrast, they are fresh. There is little glazing. Warm colors have been used sparingly.

Values are sometimes so pale that Everett defined edges and shaded areas by using a pencil on top of the paint. This is particularly noticeable in "Cathedral of the Madeleine, 1941," "Cows in Winter" and "Hollyhocks."

In all of his works, the artist appears to be in control of the medium. His application is often rather tight, but there are some exciting works where paint has been applied freely and exuberantly. Two of them are "Flowers in Vase, 1942" and "Snowy River Scene, 1940s."

Vern G. Swanson, director of the Springville Museum of Art, feels that the continued strength of Everett's work was the result of his "insistence upon working out-of-doors. Fair weather or foul, he managed to capture his subjects' vibrant points by direct observation."

Born to George and Emma Freestone Everett in 1883, Joseph displayed artistic prowess early in life. His art teacher at Washington School, Miss Elva B. Godbe, recognized his talent and encouraged him. She arranged for him to take art lessons from J.T. Harwood. Later, he studied with John Hafen, Dan Weggeland and George Ottinger.

While an LDS missionary in England, he served under Heber J. Grant, who later become president of the church. Ever since that early association, President Grant was one of Everett's most ardent patrons and benefactors.

Although Everett's first passion was art, he had to work at other jobs to support himself and his family. He was an assistant pharmacist and later a draftsman for a railroad. He was often commissioned to paint the scenery for the old Salt Lake Theatre.

But in 1932, he "retired" from his job to paint and to be co-founder of an art school in the Lion House. Possessing great teaching abilities, he taught many children of prominent families." Deseret News article by Richard P. Christenson, Visual Arts Writer
Published: Sunday, April 2 1989 12:00 a.m. MST.

Everett's work is held in the collections of the Springville Museum of Art and of the University of Utah. His work was recognized in exhibitions at the Utah State Fair.

He is also well-known for painting the murals in the St. George LDS Temple.

Click or tap to view his Death certificate