Obituary of Robert Lloyd Ragland

Robert Lloyd Ragland, known as Bob Ragland or just Ragland, the “Non-Starving Artist,” was born on December 11, 1938 in Cleveland, Ohio and passed away at his Whittier neighborhood home on April 10, 2021 in Denver, Colorado. Bob was 82 years old. Bob is survived by three sons, Mark Ragland of Ohio and his wife Diane; Ricky Yarber of Colorado and his wife Tina; Allan Phoenix of Virginia and his wife Meagan; his sister Vivian Dotson of Nevada; and a host of nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Bob spent several years in the Army and always credited the GI Bill with affording him the opportunity to study and graduate from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. In his art career spanning 55 years, Bob became a prolific artist, teacher, art consultant, art exhibit coordinator, television producer, publisher, writer, visual arts seminar coordinator, black artists art specialist, and a specialist in public creations for the visual arts. But it all started in the basement of a Park Hill church in 1966 when Ragland was looking for a place to hang his work. He approached the church pastor and was provided the basement keys after paying the pastor $10 for its use and a promise to lock up when he was done. Bob is a nationally known painter and sculptor who traveled extensively to obtain new subjects for his paintings, holding one-man exhibitions, and participating in countless group exhibitions such as the Jewish Community Center Collector’s Mart; Cleveland State University; the Contemporary Black Artists Exhibit of the Denver Art Museum; the Gilpin County Art Exhibition; the National Drawing and Sculpture Competition of Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas; multiple arts festivals; art shows; art exhibitions; street shows; and self-made art shows from his front porch in his beloved Whittier neighborhood of Denver, Colorado. Bob has works in many personal collections throughout the United States to include the private collections of; the late Tuskegee Airman and former Colorado Lieutenant Governor and Senator George L. Brown; Mrs. Coretta Scott King; Australian-American artist Patrick Bruce “Pat” Oliphant; American Jazz Pianist Ahmad Jamal, the late former Senator and Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court Anthony Francis Vollack; the late U.S. Representative John Conyers, Jr.; the late singer, songwriter and guitarist Richie Havens; the late author and social historian Lerone Bennett Jr.; the late singer, songwriter and civil rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr.; and the 39th President, James “Jimmy” Earl Carter Jr. Bob is also represented in the permanent collections of Karamu House in Cleveland, Ohio and the Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art in Denver, Colorado. Bob has been represented in galleries in Washington, D.C.; Taos, New Mexico; La Jolla, California; and many other local Denver private galleries. Bob is listed in Who’s Who in American Art. Bob created a special television show on Channel 2 concerning the arts in Denver, called “Montage, a Look at the Arts.” He was a coordinator for the “Art in the Capitol” program sponsored by the Lt Governor’s office and was an art coordinator for the “City Spirit” project sponsored by the New Dance Theatre, Inc. Ragland had his own television art instruction series on PBS KRMA TV6 in Denver for a while, titled “You’re an Artist.” Ragland is indexed in “Promoting and Selling Your Art,” a book by artist Carle Katchen; he was listed in the publication, “Community Leaders and Noteworthy Americans;” and has been featured on National Public Radio and in Art Beat Magazine. Bob was an artist who lived the art life and inspired countless others to live within their means as artists, encouraging young artists to be willing to sacrifice to make their art. Bob lived his art life his way, always ready for a teachable moment to tell the next artist how marketing their craft themselves is of paramount importance because “no one is going to promote you like you.” Bob was Denver’s “non-starving artist,” passionate about self-inspiration. “See the barn. Paint the barn. Sell the barn. Do it again.” Bob often said artists get the career they are willing to work for which echoes his art manifesto – that “non-starving artist” mindset – otherwise known as the “Heating and Eating clause.”