Kearny County is an agricultural community, but we have been growing more than crops here in Southwest Kansas. Max Harry Hillyard was one of many talented artists that Kearny County has produced over the years. The son of J. Max and Jean Rardon Hillyard, this homegrown boy grew up to be deeply respected as an illustrator and Western and Native American artist. Throughout his life, Max received numerous awards for his paintings and sculptures, but he was equally adept with his pen and ink renderings.
A 1948 graduate of Lakin High School, Max studied art at the University of New Mexico. While there, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served from 1950 to 1953 during the Korean Conflict. He later studied in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona where he was the art editor on the school’s yearbook and president of Alpha Rho Tau art honorary. While still a student, Max was employed as the art director for KDWI-TV, later known as KGUN-TV.
Hillyard was hired as the art director at the Arizona Daily Star/Citizen around 1957. In addition to creating charts and drawing cartoons, Max’s pen and ink drawings of Native Americans regularly appeared in his columns entitled, “hillyard’s corner” and “hillyard’s sketchbook.” While with the Star/Citizen, he was put in charge of the Newspaper in the Classroom program. He also spent time as an illustrator for a U.S. defense contractor providing technical artist renderings for missile systems and satellite surveillance equipment, and in 1973, he opened his own art studio in Tucson.
In 1977, Max moved his family to the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in east central Arizona where his wife, Myrna, was the elementary school’s principal. He then started working as a full-time freelance illustrator and artist. Max was commissioned by the White Mountain Apache Tribe to design their official tribal seal which is still used today. He also created much of the original artwork displayed in the Whiteriver Indian Hospital.
Max’s work gained widespread national distribution through his unique 1973 collection entitled, “A Portfolio of White Mountain Apaches.” The portfolio includes six meticulously detailed pen and ink drawings which capture tribal elders, historical leaders and daily tasks of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. The Kearny County Museum is very fortunate indeed to own a set of these limited-edition prints.
In 1998, Max and Myrna retired to Oak Creek valley, AZ, where he continued to paint. It was there that Max passed away on November 3, 2002 at the age of 72. Still today, Hillyard’s works are highly sought after by collectors of Western and Native American historical art.
SOURCES: History of Kearny County Vols. I & II; archives of The Lakin Independent and Arizona Daily Star; Museum archives; Ancestry.com; Ebay; Invaluable.com; Etsy and Bidsquare.