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Created page with "{{Infobox person | name=Ben Earl Looney | birth_date=June 2, 1904 | birth_place=Yellow Pine Community<br> near Sibley, Webster Parish, Louisiana, USA<br> '''..."
{{Infobox person
| name=Ben Earl Looney
| birth_date=June 2, 1904
| birth_place=Yellow Pine Community<br>
near Sibley, Webster Parish, [[Louisiana]], USA<br>
'''Residences''':<br>
[[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana<br>
Sarasota, [[Florida]]<br>
[[New York City]]<br>
Bremerton, [Washington]]<br>
Greensboro, [[North Carolina]]<br>
Lafayette, Louisiana
| death_date=May 25, 1981 (aged 76)
| death_place =[[Lafayette]], Louisiana <br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
Body donated to medical science
'''Alma mater''':<br>
[[Minden (Louisiana) High School]]
[[Louisiana State University]]<br>
Centenary College of Louisiana<br>
Corcoran College of Art and Design
|spouse=Never married<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Julian A. and Mollie McKinney Looney}}
'''Ben Earl Looney''' (June 2, 1904 – May 25, 1981)<ref name=death>"Noted Minden native dies", ''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' May 29, 1981, p. 1.</ref> was a [[Louisiana]]-born [[artist]] and [[author]] known for his ''Water Colors of Dixie'' and ''Cajun Country,'' pen and ink sketches of the Acadiana region of southwestern Louisiana.
==Background==
Looney was born in the Yellow Pine community, located south of Sibley in Webster Parish, Louisiana, to Julian A. Looney (1871–1958) and the former Mollie McKinney (1872–1932).<ref>Earlene Mendenhall Lyle, ''The Minden Cemetery: A Pleasant Resting Place,'' June 2004, p. 65.</ref> The community was so named because the original buildings were all constructed in yellow pine timber. Julian and Mollie Looney shared a July 17 birthday but one year apart.
Ben Earl Looney graduated in 1923 from [[Minden (Louisiana) High School]] in [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], the seat of government for Webster Parish, where he was known as "Earl." His artistic talent was already apparent, as he was the art editor of the MHS yearbook, ''The Grig.'' One of his classmates was [[Leland G. Mims]], a 1921 graduate who was later a small [[business]]man in Minden and a veteran member and president of the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish governing council.
Looney thereafter attended the [[Louisiana State University]] School of Journalism in [[Baton Rouge]], [[Methodist]]-affiliated Centenary College in [[Shreveport]], the [[Corcoran College of Art and Design]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], and the Summer School of Arts in Eastport, [[Maine]]. He studied watercolor under George Pearse Ennis (1884-1936)<ref name=lahist>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-l/|title=Looney, Ben Earl|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'': Louisiana Historical Association|accessdate=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
==Career==
Looney launched his art career from his own studio in Minden. In 1935, he moved to Baton Rouge to become the first head of the LSU Art Department. Over the years, he taught art in Sarasota, [[Florida]], in a school-museum financed by the John Ringling circus family.<ref name=lahist/> There Looney taught [[Frank T. Norman]], the [[mayor]] of Minden from 1958 to 1966, who became the first student to register at the new Ringling School of Art.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742411-2,00.html |title=Ringling Day|publisher=''[[Time magazine]]''}}</ref> Looney taught painting in [[New York City]] for nine years. He taught art in Weston, [[Massachusetts]]; Bremerton, [[Washington]]; and[Greensboro, [[North Carolina]]. He spent his last years in [[Lafayette]], Louisiana, the showcase for his [[Cajun]] works.<ref name=lahist/>
Looney derived subject matter from forty-five of the fifty states as well as [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]]. ''Ford Times,'' an in-house organ of the [Ford|Ford Motor Company]], published some forty-five of his paintings and articles. Another Looney painting is in the magazine of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Though Looney's published work was watercolor, most of his artistic talent was applied to oil or acrylic and is in private family collections. One of his popular oil paintings is titled, ''Downtown Baton Rouge, 1920." Between 1940 and 1970, Looney painted many plantation houses in Louisiana. He painted large oil murals for various dignitaries and clients, including Ford Motor Company.<ref name=lahist/>
Other works included the following: ''Beau Sejour," watercolors of Louisiana plantation houses; ''Drawings of the Vieux Carre," a look at [[New Orleans]] and the[French Quarter, with captions in [[English]] and [[France|French]]; ''Cajun Vignettes,'' short stories and poems; ''Looney Plants Grow Wild,'' paintings and satirical horticultural definitions. His work has been displayed at the LBJ Ranch in Gillespie County, [[Texas]].<ref>"Sibley native pens unusual book: His plants are 'Looney,'" ''Minden Press-Herald,'' November 30, 1978, p. 1.</ref>
==Death and family==
Looney died in a Lafayette hospital of complications from [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref name=death/> He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Julian L. Looney (1894–1958), and a brother-in-law, Robert D. Moseley (1894–1972). His father and brother died the same year. Survivors included two sisters, Eula Looney Moseley (1896–1986), the widow of Robert Moseley, and Lucille Looney Miller (1898–1994), wife of Ray Winn Miller, Sr. (1899–1981). Looney died two months before the passing of brother-in-law Ray Miller. All the Looneys are interred at the historic Minden Cemetery except for Ben Looney himself, who donated his remains to the LSU School of Medicine. Looney never married.<ref name=death/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
Looney obituary, ''Lafayette Daily Advertiser,'' May 27, 1981.
http://www.mindenmemories.org/Ben%20Earl%20Looney.htm
http://www.mindenmemories.net/
http://www.biblio.com/books/83018512.html
[http://www.lsumoa.com/content.php?display=about_mission Print of ''Downtown Baton Rouge, 1920'']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Looney, Ben Earl}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:New York City]]
[[Category:Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Washington]]
[[Category:North Carolina]]
[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:American Authors]]
[[Category:Professors]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease]]
| name=Ben Earl Looney
| birth_date=June 2, 1904
| birth_place=Yellow Pine Community<br>
near Sibley, Webster Parish, [[Louisiana]], USA<br>
'''Residences''':<br>
[[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana<br>
Sarasota, [[Florida]]<br>
[[New York City]]<br>
Bremerton, [Washington]]<br>
Greensboro, [[North Carolina]]<br>
Lafayette, Louisiana
| death_date=May 25, 1981 (aged 76)
| death_place =[[Lafayette]], Louisiana <br>
'''Resting place''':<br>
Body donated to medical science
'''Alma mater''':<br>
[[Minden (Louisiana) High School]]
[[Louisiana State University]]<br>
Centenary College of Louisiana<br>
Corcoran College of Art and Design
|spouse=Never married<br>
'''Parents''':<br>
Julian A. and Mollie McKinney Looney}}
'''Ben Earl Looney''' (June 2, 1904 – May 25, 1981)<ref name=death>"Noted Minden native dies", ''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' May 29, 1981, p. 1.</ref> was a [[Louisiana]]-born [[artist]] and [[author]] known for his ''Water Colors of Dixie'' and ''Cajun Country,'' pen and ink sketches of the Acadiana region of southwestern Louisiana.
==Background==
Looney was born in the Yellow Pine community, located south of Sibley in Webster Parish, Louisiana, to Julian A. Looney (1871–1958) and the former Mollie McKinney (1872–1932).<ref>Earlene Mendenhall Lyle, ''The Minden Cemetery: A Pleasant Resting Place,'' June 2004, p. 65.</ref> The community was so named because the original buildings were all constructed in yellow pine timber. Julian and Mollie Looney shared a July 17 birthday but one year apart.
Ben Earl Looney graduated in 1923 from [[Minden (Louisiana) High School]] in [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], the seat of government for Webster Parish, where he was known as "Earl." His artistic talent was already apparent, as he was the art editor of the MHS yearbook, ''The Grig.'' One of his classmates was [[Leland G. Mims]], a 1921 graduate who was later a small [[business]]man in Minden and a veteran member and president of the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish governing council.
Looney thereafter attended the [[Louisiana State University]] School of Journalism in [[Baton Rouge]], [[Methodist]]-affiliated Centenary College in [[Shreveport]], the [[Corcoran College of Art and Design]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], and the Summer School of Arts in Eastport, [[Maine]]. He studied watercolor under George Pearse Ennis (1884-1936)<ref name=lahist>{{cite web|url=https://www.lahistory.org/resources/dictionary-louisiana-biography/dictionary-louisiana-biography-l/|title=Looney, Ben Earl|publisher=''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'': Louisiana Historical Association|accessdate=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
==Career==
Looney launched his art career from his own studio in Minden. In 1935, he moved to Baton Rouge to become the first head of the LSU Art Department. Over the years, he taught art in Sarasota, [[Florida]], in a school-museum financed by the John Ringling circus family.<ref name=lahist/> There Looney taught [[Frank T. Norman]], the [[mayor]] of Minden from 1958 to 1966, who became the first student to register at the new Ringling School of Art.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,742411-2,00.html |title=Ringling Day|publisher=''[[Time magazine]]''}}</ref> Looney taught painting in [[New York City]] for nine years. He taught art in Weston, [[Massachusetts]]; Bremerton, [[Washington]]; and[Greensboro, [[North Carolina]]. He spent his last years in [[Lafayette]], Louisiana, the showcase for his [[Cajun]] works.<ref name=lahist/>
Looney derived subject matter from forty-five of the fifty states as well as [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]]. ''Ford Times,'' an in-house organ of the [Ford|Ford Motor Company]], published some forty-five of his paintings and articles. Another Looney painting is in the magazine of the [[Smithsonian Institution]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] Though Looney's published work was watercolor, most of his artistic talent was applied to oil or acrylic and is in private family collections. One of his popular oil paintings is titled, ''Downtown Baton Rouge, 1920." Between 1940 and 1970, Looney painted many plantation houses in Louisiana. He painted large oil murals for various dignitaries and clients, including Ford Motor Company.<ref name=lahist/>
Other works included the following: ''Beau Sejour," watercolors of Louisiana plantation houses; ''Drawings of the Vieux Carre," a look at [[New Orleans]] and the[French Quarter, with captions in [[English]] and [[France|French]]; ''Cajun Vignettes,'' short stories and poems; ''Looney Plants Grow Wild,'' paintings and satirical horticultural definitions. His work has been displayed at the LBJ Ranch in Gillespie County, [[Texas]].<ref>"Sibley native pens unusual book: His plants are 'Looney,'" ''Minden Press-Herald,'' November 30, 1978, p. 1.</ref>
==Death and family==
Looney died in a Lafayette hospital of complications from [[Parkinson's disease]].<ref name=death/> He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Julian L. Looney (1894–1958), and a brother-in-law, Robert D. Moseley (1894–1972). His father and brother died the same year. Survivors included two sisters, Eula Looney Moseley (1896–1986), the widow of Robert Moseley, and Lucille Looney Miller (1898–1994), wife of Ray Winn Miller, Sr. (1899–1981). Looney died two months before the passing of brother-in-law Ray Miller. All the Looneys are interred at the historic Minden Cemetery except for Ben Looney himself, who donated his remains to the LSU School of Medicine. Looney never married.<ref name=death/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
Looney obituary, ''Lafayette Daily Advertiser,'' May 27, 1981.
http://www.mindenmemories.org/Ben%20Earl%20Looney.htm
http://www.mindenmemories.net/
http://www.biblio.com/books/83018512.html
[http://www.lsumoa.com/content.php?display=about_mission Print of ''Downtown Baton Rouge, 1920'']
{{DEFAULTSORT:Looney, Ben Earl}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Florida]]
[[Category:New York City]]
[[Category:Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Washington]]
[[Category:North Carolina]]
[[Category:Artists]]
[[Category:American Authors]]
[[Category:Professors]]
[[Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease]]