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{{short description|American artist and paleobotanist}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox scientist
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Wesley Conrad Wehr
| name = Wesley Conrad Wehr
| image =
| image = Wes Wehr 1998 img3.jpg
| image_size =
| birth_date = April 17, 1929
| birth_date = April 17, 1929
| birth_place = [[Everett, Washington]]
| birth_place = [[Everett, Washington]]
| death_date = {{d-da|April 12, 2004|April 17, 1929}}
| death_date = {{death-date and age|April 12, 2004|April 17, 1929}}
| death_place = [[Seattle, Washington]]
| death_place = [[Seattle, Washington]]
| fields = [[Paleobotany]], [[Northwest School (art)|The Northwest School]]
| fields = [[Paleobotany]], [[Northwest School (art)|The Northwest School]]
| nationality = United States
| nationality = American
| work_institutions = [[Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture|Burke Museum]]
| work_institutions = [[Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture|Burke Museum]]
| known_for = Fossil leaf analysis, painting
| known_for = Fossil leaf analysis, painting
Line 19: Line 20:
==Early life==
==Early life==
Wesley Wehr was born as the only child of Conrad J. Wehr and Ingeborg (Hall) Wehr, in [[Everett, Washington]] on April 17, 1929. As a child he displayed an aptitude for music which was encouraged with private lessons. In his senior year of high school two of his compositions, ''Pastoral Sketches for Violin and Piano'' and ''Spanish Dance'', came to the attention of [[George Frederick McKay|George F. McKay]], then an instructor at the [[University of Washington]]. McKay invited Wehr for private study with him, and in 1947 Wehr entered the University.<ref name="historylink"/>
Wesley Wehr was born as the only child of Conrad J. Wehr and Ingeborg (Hall) Wehr, in [[Everett, Washington]] on April 17, 1929. As a child he displayed an aptitude for music which was encouraged with private lessons. In his senior year of high school two of his compositions, ''Pastoral Sketches for Violin and Piano'' and ''Spanish Dance'', came to the attention of [[George Frederick McKay|George F. McKay]], then an instructor at the [[University of Washington]]. McKay invited Wehr for private study with him, and in 1947 Wehr entered the University.<ref name="historylink"/>

He was a recipient of the Lorraine Decker Campbell Award for original composition, He graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts then with his Master of Arts in 1954. Wehr first began painting in 1960.<ref name="dedication">{{cite journal |last1=Archibald |first1=S. B. |year=2005 |title=Wes Wehr dedication |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=115–117 |doi=10.1139/E05-013 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>
[[File:Rhus sp hybrid SRIC SR 00-05-19.jpg|thumb|Fossil ''[[Rhus malloryi]]'' leaf, described by [[Jack A. Wolfe|Wolfe]] and Wehr in 1987]]
[[File:Rhus sp hybrid SRIC SR 00-05-19.jpg|thumb|Fossil ''[[Rhus malloryi]]'' leaf, described by [[Jack A. Wolfe|Wolfe]] and Wehr in 1987]]


==Northwest School==
==Painting==
Wehr graduated the [[University of Washington]] in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts and a recipient of the Lorraine Decker Campbell Award for original composition, then continued on to his Master of Arts in 1954. After graduation he took a position as watchman in the [[Henry Art Gallery]] on the weekends, passing the time between visitors by doodling.<ref name="historylink"/> Wehrs only published music score ''Wind and the Rain'' was released in 1957 though [[Dow Music]] in New York. However after a comment by [[Theodore Roethke]], Wehr became self-conscious of his musical works and stopped composing feeling that "The life went out of it".<ref name="historylink"/>
Wehr started out with music composition, and later studied poetry with [[Theodore Roethke]] in his senior year of university. Painter [[Mark Tobey]] was introduced to Wehr in 1949 by mutual friend and pianist Berthe Poncy Jacobson. Wehr, an undergraduate at the time, accepted the opportunity to serve as a stand-in music composition tutor for Tobey, and over time became friends with him and his circle of artists. Tobey introduced Wehr to [[Guy Anderson]] and [[Morris Graves]] at a Christmas party in 1949 and later [[Kenneth Callahan]], Pehr Hallsten, and [[Helmi Juvonen]]. Tobey encouraged him in painting, and Guy Anderson insisted he learn how to draw.<ref name="historylink"/>

Wehr started out studying music composition, and later expanded to poetry classes with Roethke in his senior year of university. [[Northwest School (art)|Northwest School Painter]] [[Mark Tobey]] was introduced to Wehr in 1949 by mutual friend and pianist Berthe Poncy Jacobson. An undergraduate at the time, he accepted the opportunity to serve as a stand-in music composition tutor for Tobey, and over time became friends with him and his circle of artists. Tobey introduced him to [[Guy Anderson]] and [[Morris Graves]] at a Christmas party in 1949 and later [[Kenneth Callahan]], Pehr Hallsten, and [[Helmi Juvonen]]. Tobey encouraged him in painting, and Guy Anderson insisted he learn how to draw.<ref name="historylink"/> Wehr first began painting in 1960,<ref name="dedication">{{cite journal |last1=Archibald |first1=S. B. |year=2005 |title=Wes Wehr dedication |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=115–117 |doi=10.1139/E05-013 |bibcode=2005CaJES..42..115A |display-authors=etal}}</ref> being inspired by pots of paint and a box of [[Crayola]] [[crayon]]s over the Christmas holidays. With his group of friends gone home for the holiday, he drew on memories of the Oregon coast and the [[agate|picture agate]] found in [[thunderegg]]s, producing several landscapes that were no more than {{convert|6|in|cm|abbr=on}} on a side.<ref name="historylink"/> His first additions to the Northwest School.<ref name="Strimple2004">{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=K. |year=2004 |title=Presentation of the Harrell L. Strimple award of the Paleontological Society to Wesley C. Wehr |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=822|doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0822:POTHLS>2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=130210589 }}</ref>
Wehr was a student of the noted poet [[Elizabeth Bishop]] in 1953, and in 1967 she wrote a gallery note for a showing of Wehr's paintings. In the gallery note she commented on the small size of his works and compared them to short works of music. In a similar reflection, Bishop commented on Wehr transporting new works in an old briefcase and showing them at a local coffee house, and the effect the painting had on those viewing them. Bishop notes that Wehr was a collector of natural objects such as [[agate]]s, [[amber]], and fossils. She noted that Wehr's works possessed a "chilling sensation of time and space".<ref name="Rosenbaum2007">{{cite book |title=Professing sincerity: modern lyric poetry, commercial culture, and the crisis in reading |last=Rosenbaum |first=Susan B. |year=2007 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-2610-0 |pages=188–190 }}</ref>
Wehr was a student of the noted poet [[Elizabeth Bishop]] in 1953, and in 1967 she wrote a gallery note for a showing of Wehr's paintings. In the gallery note she commented on the small size of his works and compared them to short works of music. In a similar reflection, Bishop commented on Wehr transporting new works in an old briefcase and showing them at a local coffee house, and the effect the painting had on those viewing them. Bishop notes that Wehr was a collector of natural objects such as [[agate]]s, [[amber]], and fossils. She noted that Wehr's works possessed a "chilling sensation of time and space".<ref name="Rosenbaum2007">{{cite book |title=Professing sincerity: modern lyric poetry, commercial culture, and the crisis in reading |last=Rosenbaum |first=Susan B. |year=2007 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-2610-0 |pages=188–190 }}</ref>


Throughout his life Wehr collected signatures, and often wrote to people as an opening to get one. Some of the letters grew into more in-depth correspondence, including conversations with [[Vincent Price]], [[Suzanne Langer]] and [[Katharine Hepburn]].<ref name="Strimple2004"/> A selection of Wehrs and [[Joseph Goldberg]]s works were featured as part of the [[Spokane, Washington]] [[Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture]] 2021 exhibit "Inspired by Landscape", both of whose works were inspired by the landscapes of Eastern Washington.<ref name="MAC2021">{{cite news |author=Kimberly Lusk |date=1902-06-27 |title=Family Fun: Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture features exhibits for engagement, exploration |work=Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |access-date=2021-10-13 |doi= |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/jul/04/family-fun-northwest-museum-of-arts-and-culture-fe/}}</ref>
<!--Wes maintained enduring friendships with many artists, including painter [[Jay Steensma]], with whom he frequented University District coffee houses, where the two made drawings by the dozens. Wes collected works by Steensma and other artists, and he donated many of these works to selected museums around the northwest. A 2006 Annual Report noted, "The [[Whatcom Museum]] also had a remarkable year with regard to donations. Most significant was the Wesley Wehr bequest from this recognized curator, artist, and writer. He bequeathed his art collection to the Whatcom Museum, the [[Henry Art Gallery]], and the [[Nordic Heritage Museum]], with the Whatcom Museum receiving its majority: 189 works by such noteworthy regional artists as Helmi Juvonen, Jay Steensma, [[John Franklin Koenig]], and Phillip McCracken, among others."

<!--Wes maintained friendships with many artists, including painter [[Jay Steensma]], with whom he frequented University District coffee houses, where the two made drawings by the dozens. Wes collected works by Steensma and other artists, and he donated many of these works to selected museums around the northwest. A 2006 Annual Report noted, "The [[Whatcom Museum]] also had a remarkable year with regard to donations. Most significant was the Wesley Wehr bequest from this recognized curator, artist, and writer. He bequeathed his art collection to the Whatcom Museum, the [[Henry Art Gallery]], and the [[Nordic Heritage Museum]], with the Whatcom Museum receiving its majority: 189 works by such noteworthy regional artists as Helmi Juvonen, Jay Steensma, [[John Franklin Koenig]], and Phillip McCracken, among others."


Wehr's works were shown at University of Washington's Henry Gallery in 1961 and 1962. He had solo exhibitions at Seattle's Otto Seligman Gallery in 1967, at Gallery Rosenau in Bern, Switzerland in 1977, and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria from November 1980 to January 1981. Wehr also had gallery shows in Munich, Germany, New York City, and San Francisco. The [[Cheney Cowles Museum]] in [[Spokane, Washington]] showed Wehr's work along with Joseph Goldberg's in 1991. The [[Seattle Art Museum]] included works of his in a 2002 exhibition called "Smashing the Forms" which focused on artists associated with Mark Tobey. In 2009, after his death, his work was included in Landscape Visions, a group show at The [[Evergreen State College]]. Works by Wehr are in a 2016 group show called "Glimpses of the Northwest" at Olympia's Art In Ecology venue.-->
Wehr's works were shown at University of Washington's Henry Gallery in 1961 and 1962. He had solo exhibitions at Seattle's Otto Seligman Gallery in 1967, at Gallery Rosenau in Bern, Switzerland in 1977, and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria from November 1980 to January 1981. Wehr also had gallery shows in Munich, Germany, New York City, and San Francisco. The [[Cheney Cowles Museum]] in [[Spokane, Washington]] showed Wehr's work along with Joseph Goldberg's in 1991. The [[Seattle Art Museum]] included works of his in a 2002 exhibition called "Smashing the Forms" which focused on artists associated with Mark Tobey. In 2009, after his death, his work was included in Landscape Visions, a group show at The [[Evergreen State College]]. Works by Wehr are in a 2016 group show called "Glimpses of the Northwest" at Olympia's Art In Ecology venue.-->


==Paleobotany==
==Paleontology==
[[File:SR 87-61-17 Pseudolarix wehrii 2010-10-06 img1.jpg|thumb|right|A ''[[Pseudolarix wehrii]]'' cone]]
[[File:Pseudolarix wehrii cone SRIC SR 87-61-17 img1.jpg|thumb|right|A ''[[Pseudolarix wehrii]]'' cone]]
Wehr met the future chief curator of the [[Denver Museum of Nature and Science]], Kirk Johnson, when Johnson was in his early teens. As Wehr had never learned to drive, when Johnson got his driver's license, Wehr and Johnson took a week-long trip through [[Eastern Washington]]. It was on this trip that Wehr and Johnson first visited [[Republic, Washington]] to find fossils.<ref name="Johnson2007">{{cite book |title=Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5000-Mile Paleo Road Trip |last=Johnson |first=Kirk |author2=Ray Troll |year=2007 |publisher=Fulcrum Publishing |location=Golden, Colorado |isbn=978-1-55591-451-6 |pages=3, 66}}</ref>
Wehr met the future chief curator of the [[Denver Museum of Nature and Science]], Kirk Johnson, when Johnson was in his early teens. As Wehr had never learned to drive, when Johnson got his driver's license, Wehr and Johnson took a week-long trip through [[Eastern Washington]]. It was on this trip that Wehr and Johnson first visited [[Republic, Washington]] to find fossils.<ref name="Johnson2007">{{cite book |title=Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5000-Mile Paleo Road Trip |last=Johnson |first=Kirk |author2=Ray Troll |year=2007 |publisher=Fulcrum Publishing |location=Golden, Colorado |isbn=978-1-55591-451-6 |pages=3, 66}}</ref>


In the 1970s he started to focus on paleobotany, guided by his correspondence with noted paleobotanists [[Charles Miller (paleobotanist)|Charles N. Miller, Jr]] and [[Chester A. Arnold]]. He continued his love of petrified wood through correspondence with [[George Beck (paleobotanist)|George Beck]] of [[Central Washington University]]. The 1977 visit to Republic led to the realization of the richness of the Republic Flora. Until his work in the 1970s the fossils of Republic were regarded as little more than a minor flora.<ref name="dedication"/> In the early 1980s working with Republic councilman Bert Chadwick, Wehr helped with the initial setup and organization of the [[Stonerose Interpretive Center]].<ref name="historylink"/><ref name="dedication"/>
In the 1970s, he started to focus on paleobotany, guided by his correspondence with noted paleobotanists [[Charles Miller (paleobotanist)|Charles N. Miller, Jr]] and [[Chester A. Arnold]]. He continued his love of petrified wood through correspondence with [[George Beck (paleobotanist)|George Beck]] of [[Central Washington University]]. The 1977 visit to Republic led to the realization of the richness of the Republic Flora. Until his work in the 1970s the fossils of Republic were regarded as little more than a minor flora.<ref name="dedication"/> In the early 1980s working with Republic councilman Bert Chadwick, Wehr helped with the initial setup and organization of the [[Stonerose Interpretive Center]].<ref name="historylink"/><ref name="dedication"/>


In 1976 Wehr was appointed as an affiliate curator of paleobotany at the [[Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture]]. Wehr maintained this position for the rest of his life. Through his contacts and work both in Republic and the Burke Museum he authored a series of papers on the fossils found at Republic. A group of ten papers published in the now defunct publication ''Washington Geology'' were aimed at a general audience. He also coauthored several technical scientific papers with paleobotanical colleagues. Wehr was recognized for his work with fossils in 2003 when he was awarded the [[Paleontological Society]]' s [[Paleontological Society#Medals and awards|Harrell L. Strimple Award]], awarded each year to an amateur who has contributed to paleontology. The reception hosted by Wehr at the Burke Museum afterwards was attended by 200 of his friends and acquaintances. A number of extinct plants and insects were named in honor of Wehr including ''[[Osmunda wehrii]]'', ''[[Wessiea yakimaensis]]'', ''[[Pseudolarix wehrii]]'', and ''[[Cretomerobius wehri]]''. The fossil flower, ''[[Wehrwolfea striata]]'' was named for Wehr and paleobotanist [[Jack A. Wolfe|Jack Wolfe]].<ref name="dedication"/> While traveling with Kirk Johnson in 1992, Wehr visited the [[Black Hills Institute]] and saw the skeleton of the [[Sue (dinosaur)|''Tyrannosaurus rex'' Sue]] five days before it was seized by the FBI.<ref name="Johnson2007"/>
In 1976, Wehr was appointed as an affiliate curator of paleobotany at the [[Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture]]. Wehr maintained this position for the rest of his life. Through his contacts and work both in Republic and the Burke Museum he authored a series of papers on the fossils found at Republic. A group of ten papers published in the now defunct publication ''Washington Geology'' were aimed at a general audience. He also coauthored several technical scientific papers with paleobotanical colleagues. Wehr was recognized for his work with fossils in 2003 when he was awarded the [[Paleontological Society]]'s [[Paleontological Society#Medals and awards|Harrell L. Strimple Award]], awarded each year to an amateur who has contributed to paleontology, with Kirk Johnson noting that "throughout his career, Wes has been an exporter of paleontology".<ref name="Strimple2004"/> The reception hosted by Wehr at the Burke Museum afterwards was attended by 200 of his friends and acquaintances, at which Wehr noted one of his inspirations to be Richard Fuller, geologist, [[vulcanologist]], but also founder of the [[Seattle Art Museum]]. Similar to Wehr were also Beck, who was an accomplished musician, and [[V. Standish Mallory]] who trained in his early life as a composer and musician.<ref name="WehrReply2004">{{cite journal |last1=Wehr |first1=W. |year=2004 |title=Response by Wesley Wehr |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=823–824 |doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0823:RBWW>2.0.CO;2|s2cid=198152585 }}</ref>


A number of extinct plants and insects were named in honor of Wehr including ''[[Cretomerobius wehri]]'', ''[[Osmunda wehrii]]'', ''[[Pseudolarix wehrii]]'', and ''[[Wessiea yakimaensis]]''. The fossil flower, ''[[Wehrwolfea striata]]'' was named for Wehr and paleobotanist [[Jack A. Wolfe|Jack Wolfe]].<ref name="dedication"/> While traveling with Kirk Johnson in 1992, Wehr visited the [[Black Hills Institute]] and saw the skeleton of the [[Sue (dinosaur)|''Tyrannosaurus rex'' Sue]] five days before it was seized by the FBI.<ref name="Johnson2007"/>
Five days before his 75th birthday Wehr suffered a series of heart attacks<ref name="Burke">[http://www.burkemuseum.org/info/press_browse/noted_northwest_paleobotanist_artist_and_author_wes_wehr_has_passed_away Burke Museum press release] accessed August 11, 2011</ref> and died on April 12, 2004. The planned birthday party was changed into a memorial service, attended by more than 200&nbsp;people.<ref name="dedication"/>

Five days before his 75th birthday, Wehr suffered a series of heart attacks<ref name="Burke">[http://www.burkemuseum.org/info/press_browse/noted_northwest_paleobotanist_artist_and_author_wes_wehr_has_passed_away Burke Museum press release] accessed August 11, 2011</ref> and died on April 12, 2004. The planned birthday party was changed into a memorial service, attended by more than 200&nbsp;people.<ref name="dedication"/>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist|30em}}


==External links==
==External links==
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{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wehr, Wesley}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wehr, Wesley}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:1929 births]]
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[[Category:People from Everett, Washington]]
[[Category:People from Everett, Washington]]
[[Category:Paleobotanists]]
[[Category:Paleobotanists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male artists]]

Latest revision as of 04:58, 29 January 2023

Wesley Conrad Wehr
BornApril 17, 1929
DiedApril 12, 2004 (2004-04-13) (aged 74)
NationalityAmerican
Known forFossil leaf analysis, painting
Scientific career
FieldsPaleobotany, The Northwest School
InstitutionsBurke Museum

Wesley Conrad Wehr (April 17, 1929 – April 12, 2004) was an American paleontologist and artist best known for his studies of Cenozoic fossil floras in western North America, the Stonerose Interpretive Center, and as a part of the Northwest School of art. Wehr published two books with University of Washington Press that chronicled his friendships with artists and scientists.[1][2]

Early life

[edit]

Wesley Wehr was born as the only child of Conrad J. Wehr and Ingeborg (Hall) Wehr, in Everett, Washington on April 17, 1929. As a child he displayed an aptitude for music which was encouraged with private lessons. In his senior year of high school two of his compositions, Pastoral Sketches for Violin and Piano and Spanish Dance, came to the attention of George F. McKay, then an instructor at the University of Washington. McKay invited Wehr for private study with him, and in 1947 Wehr entered the University.[2]

Fossil Rhus malloryi leaf, described by Wolfe and Wehr in 1987

Northwest School

[edit]

Wehr graduated the University of Washington in 1952 with a Bachelor of Arts and a recipient of the Lorraine Decker Campbell Award for original composition, then continued on to his Master of Arts in 1954. After graduation he took a position as watchman in the Henry Art Gallery on the weekends, passing the time between visitors by doodling.[2] Wehrs only published music score Wind and the Rain was released in 1957 though Dow Music in New York. However after a comment by Theodore Roethke, Wehr became self-conscious of his musical works and stopped composing feeling that "The life went out of it".[2]

Wehr started out studying music composition, and later expanded to poetry classes with Roethke in his senior year of university. Northwest School Painter Mark Tobey was introduced to Wehr in 1949 by mutual friend and pianist Berthe Poncy Jacobson. An undergraduate at the time, he accepted the opportunity to serve as a stand-in music composition tutor for Tobey, and over time became friends with him and his circle of artists. Tobey introduced him to Guy Anderson and Morris Graves at a Christmas party in 1949 and later Kenneth Callahan, Pehr Hallsten, and Helmi Juvonen. Tobey encouraged him in painting, and Guy Anderson insisted he learn how to draw.[2] Wehr first began painting in 1960,[3] being inspired by pots of paint and a box of Crayola crayons over the Christmas holidays. With his group of friends gone home for the holiday, he drew on memories of the Oregon coast and the picture agate found in thundereggs, producing several landscapes that were no more than 6 in (15 cm) on a side.[2] His first additions to the Northwest School.[4]

Wehr was a student of the noted poet Elizabeth Bishop in 1953, and in 1967 she wrote a gallery note for a showing of Wehr's paintings. In the gallery note she commented on the small size of his works and compared them to short works of music. In a similar reflection, Bishop commented on Wehr transporting new works in an old briefcase and showing them at a local coffee house, and the effect the painting had on those viewing them. Bishop notes that Wehr was a collector of natural objects such as agates, amber, and fossils. She noted that Wehr's works possessed a "chilling sensation of time and space".[5]

Throughout his life Wehr collected signatures, and often wrote to people as an opening to get one. Some of the letters grew into more in-depth correspondence, including conversations with Vincent Price, Suzanne Langer and Katharine Hepburn.[4] A selection of Wehrs and Joseph Goldbergs works were featured as part of the Spokane, Washington Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture 2021 exhibit "Inspired by Landscape", both of whose works were inspired by the landscapes of Eastern Washington.[6]


Paleontology

[edit]
A Pseudolarix wehrii cone

Wehr met the future chief curator of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Kirk Johnson, when Johnson was in his early teens. As Wehr had never learned to drive, when Johnson got his driver's license, Wehr and Johnson took a week-long trip through Eastern Washington. It was on this trip that Wehr and Johnson first visited Republic, Washington to find fossils.[7]

In the 1970s, he started to focus on paleobotany, guided by his correspondence with noted paleobotanists Charles N. Miller, Jr and Chester A. Arnold. He continued his love of petrified wood through correspondence with George Beck of Central Washington University. The 1977 visit to Republic led to the realization of the richness of the Republic Flora. Until his work in the 1970s the fossils of Republic were regarded as little more than a minor flora.[3] In the early 1980s working with Republic councilman Bert Chadwick, Wehr helped with the initial setup and organization of the Stonerose Interpretive Center.[2][3]

In 1976, Wehr was appointed as an affiliate curator of paleobotany at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Wehr maintained this position for the rest of his life. Through his contacts and work both in Republic and the Burke Museum he authored a series of papers on the fossils found at Republic. A group of ten papers published in the now defunct publication Washington Geology were aimed at a general audience. He also coauthored several technical scientific papers with paleobotanical colleagues. Wehr was recognized for his work with fossils in 2003 when he was awarded the Paleontological Society's Harrell L. Strimple Award, awarded each year to an amateur who has contributed to paleontology, with Kirk Johnson noting that "throughout his career, Wes has been an exporter of paleontology".[4] The reception hosted by Wehr at the Burke Museum afterwards was attended by 200 of his friends and acquaintances, at which Wehr noted one of his inspirations to be Richard Fuller, geologist, vulcanologist, but also founder of the Seattle Art Museum. Similar to Wehr were also Beck, who was an accomplished musician, and V. Standish Mallory who trained in his early life as a composer and musician.[8]

A number of extinct plants and insects were named in honor of Wehr including Cretomerobius wehri, Osmunda wehrii, Pseudolarix wehrii, and Wessiea yakimaensis. The fossil flower, Wehrwolfea striata was named for Wehr and paleobotanist Jack Wolfe.[3] While traveling with Kirk Johnson in 1992, Wehr visited the Black Hills Institute and saw the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus rex Sue five days before it was seized by the FBI.[7]

Five days before his 75th birthday, Wehr suffered a series of heart attacks[9] and died on April 12, 2004. The planned birthday party was changed into a memorial service, attended by more than 200 people.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Wehr W 2000 "The eighth lively art : conversations with painters, poets, musicians & the wicked witch of the west" University of Washington Press, Seattle; and Wehr W 2004 "The Accidental Collector" University of Washington Press, Seattle
  2. ^ a b c d e Archibald, S. B.; et al. (2005). "Wes Wehr dedication". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 42 (2): 115–117. Bibcode:2005CaJES..42..115A. doi:10.1139/E05-013.
  3. ^ a b c Johnson, K. (2004). "Presentation of the Harrell L. Strimple award of the Paleontological Society to Wesley C. Wehr". Journal of Paleontology. 78 (4): 822. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0822:POTHLS>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 130210589.
  4. ^ Rosenbaum, Susan B. (2007). Professing sincerity: modern lyric poetry, commercial culture, and the crisis in reading. University of Virginia Press. pp. 188–190. ISBN 978-0-8139-2610-0.
  5. ^ Kimberly Lusk (June 27, 1902). "Family Fun: Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture features exhibits for engagement, exploration". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Kirk; Ray Troll (2007). Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway: An Epoch Tale of a Scientist and an Artist on the Ultimate 5000-Mile Paleo Road Trip. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing. pp. 3, 66. ISBN 978-1-55591-451-6.
  7. ^ Wehr, W. (2004). "Response by Wesley Wehr". Journal of Paleontology. 78 (4): 823–824. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<0823:RBWW>2.0.CO;2. S2CID 198152585.
  8. ^ Burke Museum press release accessed August 11, 2011
[edit]