CEDARGREEN, Sid

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ March 8, 1995, p. 2 Former longtime Wickenburg resident and well know western landscape painter, Sid Cedargreen, passed away Saturday, February 18, after a brief illness, in Los Angeles. He was 89. Mr. Cedargreen, his wife, Betty and daughter, Ingrid, first visited Wickenburg in 1953, from their home in Detroit, Michigan. Suffering at the time from physical exhaustion, he visited Remuda guest ranch in Wickenburg, for a five-month rest. He recuperated rapidly and returned to Detroit only long enough to dispose of his property and return to the land of beauty, as he called Arizona. While recuperating, Mr. Cedargreen purchased a few paints and brushes and tried his hand at painting, which he had always wished he might be able to do. After a few lessons that were included in the price of the paints, he realized after much practice that “maybe I can paint”. He then studied briefly with several art teachers in Arizona and shortly began to produce western landscapes with the simplicity and authenticity of nature at its best. In 1958 Mr. Cedargreen built a studio in Tubac. He maintained his home in Wickenburg until 1963, when he and his family moved to Tubac. He was a founder of the Santa Cruz Art Association and the Tubac Art Center, well known for its fine southwestern art. He was winner of the distinguished Master Mead award for excellence in depicting the southwest. He was a member of the Desert Caballeros and went on 11 rides with the group. Some of Mr. Cedargreen’s close friends in Wickenburg include Peter Fletcher, Sophie Burden, Dana Burden, John Burden, Luke White and Roy and Betty Coxwell. Sid Cedargreen was born in Anaconda, Montana in 1906, soon after his parents migrated from Sweden and grew up knowing and loving the West. He earned his B.A. degree at the University of Michigan, then did graduate work in Business Administration at the University of Montana and Northwestern and Wayne Universities. After his marriage in Detroit to Betty Stahelin, he became the successful operator of a wholesale and retail florist business, growing and selling cut flowers of thousands of varieties, and planning and executing large landscaping contracts. In his second career as an artist, Mr. Cedargreen had many one-man shows, in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Tucson, Nogales, and Tubac, and in Santa Barbara, and Palm Desert, California; in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Ogunquit, Maine and in Taos, Deming, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has exhibited in the Camelback Galleries and Adrian Shaw Galleries in Scottsdale; the Hilltop Art Gallery in Nogales; the Fountains Gallery in Tucson; the Plaza Gallery and the Taos Inn in Taos; the Shop of the Rainbow Man in Santa Fe; the Old Town Book Shop in Wickenburg; the Santa Barbara Biltmore Hotel in Santa Barbara, California; the Hibbitts Gallery in Colorado Springs; the Tubac Art Center in Tubac; and in many other galleries throughout the Southwest. His paintings have been used for Christmas cards and greeting cards by a western greeting card company. His works are owned by people from all areas of the United States. Following the death of his first wife Betty, in 1974, he remarried an old high school acquaintance, Alice Stewart, and they settled in Kino Springs and Tucson. Following Alice’s death in 1986, Mr. Cedargreen moved to Los Angeles to be near his daughter and grandchildren. Mr. Cedargreen is survived by his daughter, Dr. Ingrid Margolin, of Glendale, California; three grandchildren, Bron Ruf, Dana Ruf and Chez Goetschel; two great-grandchildren; and a step-daughter, A. J. Coyne of Seattle. Memorial contributions may be made to: The Sid Cedargreen Scholarship Fund for Promising Young Artists, in care of the Tubac Center for the Arts, Box 1911, Tubac, Arizona 85646.