Ray Boynton

Ray S. Boynton
Born	January 14, 1883 Whitten, Iowa
Died	September 26, 1951 Albuquerque, New Mexico
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Chicago Academy of Fine Arts
Notable work	Coit Tower mural
Style	Fresco and Encaustic
Movement	Social realism
Spouse(s)	Margaret Gough (1919 – 1930)

Ray Scepter Boynton (1883 – 1951) also known as Raymond Boynton, was an American artist and arts educator, most famous for his mural work in California during the Great Depression where he earned commissions under the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP).

He worked at Coit Tower painting murals with Ralph Stackpole, Bernard Zakheim, and Edith Hamlin (wife of Maynard Dixon). He also painted nine murals in the Modesto Post Office which was decommissioned and sold at auction in 2011. As well as creating public commissions, Boynton was a teacher at a several post-secondary institutions.

Ray Scepter Boynton was born in Whitten, Iowa on January 14, 1883. After graduating from high school at Strawberry Point, Iowa in 1901 he moved to Chicago in 1903 to attend the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts (now known as School of the Art Institute of Chicago) from 1905 – 1907. While there, he worked as an usher at the Iroquois Theatre and was present when it caught fire on December 30, 1903 escaping with minor burns. It is the deadliest theatre fire in American history. Upon completion of his studies at the academy, he moved to Eastern Washington state because a brother lived there; Boynton resided there for seven years. He described art culture in Eastern Washington as "lacking". He was able to keep art in his life by giving private lessons in Spokane, WA; he was hired to paint curtains for a high school theatre; and, eventually, he garnered a commission to paint the Spokane Falls on a mural to be placed in City Hall's first council chamber (about 1913). Unfortunately, during renovations of City Hall, it was ruined when workers nailed boards over it; it was forgotten, but was rediscovered in the 1960s. Although efforts were made to raise funds to restore it, the mural was eventually sold and is now in private hands (according to emails with Spokane's Museum of Art and Culture - known as the MAC). During these seven years in Eastern Washington, Boynton perhaps spent more time farming than in artistic endeavours. Finally, luck broke his way around 1914 when he became a judge for the Northwest region of art that was to be sent to San Francisco for the 1915 World's Fair called the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE). He first went to Seattle to judge the artwork (he also got some of his work into PPIE), and then he continued to San Francisco where he would take up permanent residence for many years.

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