Clay Debevoise

DEBEVOISE, Clay Clay Debevoise, artist and father, died on Easter Sunday (April 12, 2009) in West Hartford, where he was in hospice care after having ceased treatment for brain cancer diagnosed in May 2005. He was 54. Clay grew up on the East coast from D.C. to ME, and moved to San Francisco in 1997. He is survived by his two daughters as well as three siblings; his mother; his ex-wife and lifetime friend; and many other family members, close friends and colleagues. Clay was pre-deceased by his father. Clay's career as a photographer began in Vermont where he received an instamatic camera as a gift in 1963. His art evolved to include poetry, with his first poem inspired by JFK's death in 1965, and later the computer with the advent of the digital age. He graduated from Trinity College in Hartford with a BA in literature in 1975. After years in CT, Clay moved to New York City in 1989 to work with Warhol Studios and earned an MFA at the School of Visual Arts. His photography evolved to include computer-generated effects and text, and soon the photos evolved out of the art all together, leaving a creative and cutting-edge approach to words as imagery and vice versa. He drove across country in 1997 to relocate to San Francisco, meeting museum curators along the way who had expressed interest in his work. He lived in northern California until coming to hospice care in CT this April. On the West coast, he taught art and computer applications, developed a number of websites (including his own: www.clayd.com), and finalized an online photo/poetry book, Home. With world-class support from UCSF's neuro-oncology department, Clay fought his neuroglioblastoma nobly beyond the 3-6 month life expectation he was given in May 2005, while also tirelessly continuing his career and fatherhood of his younger daughter. He tired this winter and chose to stop treatment in January, leading to a graceful conclusion of his struggle.