Jay S. Willis

October 22, 1940-December 2, 2023

Jay S. Willis, a nationally recognized artist and educator who, in a 40 year career at University of Southern California's Roski School of Art and Design was profoundly influential in developing the university's interdisciplinary Public Art Studies program, the first such university level program in the country, died December 2 in Las Vegas, NV. He was 83.

During his tenure, Willis was the founding director of the master's program in Public Art Studies, and chair of the studio arts program. A working artist until his last few years, Willis was a sculptor who worked in a variety of mediums. His work is held in a number of private and public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the University of Judaism, the Hirschhorn Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC, and the Walker Hill Art Museum in Seoul, South Korea. He exhibited frequently in Southern CA. at venues including the legendary Cirrus Gallery.

Willis was born in Fort Wayne, IN. He earned his bachelor's in Fine Arts at University of Illinois, Urbana in 1964. He went on to earn an MFA in Sculpture at UC Berkeley in 1966. His teaching career began in 1966 at University of Arizona as an instructor in Sculpture. He was hired by USC in 1969 as a professor of Sculpture. He retired in 2010 with Emeritus status.

He is survived by his wife of 43 years Kary Kuwahara, his son Sam Willis, and granddaughter Merrill Willis,