Skibo preserves history through art
By Kenneth Jessen
Correspondent
Her studio is crowded with paintings of animals and Indians. The tables
are littered with brushes and tubes of paint. The shelves in her living
room are filled with books on the American West. Since retirement in 1984,
81-year-old Eileen Skibo has made numerous contributions toward the preservation
of the history of this area through her illustrations.
After attending the American Academy of Art in Chicago, she worked most
of her life as a commercial artist. Skibo's accomplishments are too numerous
to mention and include ads she designed for Time magazine. She even illustrated
one of Ray Bradbury's science fiction short stories. Western history writer
Larry K. Brown hired Skibo to illustrate "You are Respectfully Invited
to Attend my Execution," a book about some of Wyoming's notorious outlaws.
At Fort Phil Kearny Historic Site near Sheridan, Wyo., Skibo did 40 drawings,
maps and title panels for an audio-visual presentation depicting events
important to this historic site. Skibo volunteered at the Wyoming State
Museum and recently completed a series of murals. Located in the children's
section, each 6-foot-by-3-foot panel shows various aspects of Wyoming history.
Other historic paintings were done for the Old West Museum in Cheyenne.
Her most recent work was a backdrop for the dramatization of the life of
Sacajawea, an Indian maiden who served as an interpreter for the Lewis
and Clark expedition two centuries ago. The 6-foot-by-4-foot canvas includes
Shoshoni Chief Washakie and members of the expedition. The backdrop was
presented in October 2006 to the Shoshoni Tribe at the Wind River Reservation
near Lander Wyoming for permanent display.
As for Skibo's love of history, she says, "It began very early when my
grandmother occasionally referred to family stories dating back to frontier
times. I also lived the rustic country life during the 1930s."
Today, Skibo volunteers at the Wellington Senior Resource Center. She helped
design its newsletter and did the artwork for a set of note cards. The
card set, designed for the centennial celebration in 2005, includes sketches
of Wellington's first town hall, fire station and jail; the Victorian building
at 3922 Cleveland Ave. now called Wellington Manor; 1920s firefighters
with their hose cart; Hotel Wellington as it looked in the early 1900s;
the one-time bank at 3728 Cleveland Ave., now home to the Chocolate Rose;
and the grain elevator built in 1922 at 8121 First St. Card sales help
support the center's programs.
Skibo also is part of a program where seniors talk about their life experiences
with elementary school children. The children are an enthusiastic audience,
Skibo says, and she hopes that she has left a legacy for the younger generation.
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