This biography from the Archives of AskART:
| Jay Datus, born in Jackson Michigan, was a mural painter, who arrived in Arizona in 1937, when he was age 23. For an addition to the state capitol building, he completed a series of murals, The Pageant of Arizona Progress, portraying significant events in Arizona's history and installed on the third floor of the Law and Research Library. In preparation, he spent two years of research, and topics included Indians, explorers, missionaries, pioneers, miners, and contemporary figures.
With four main panels plus side panels, titles include:
• Apache Smoke Signals
• Ancient Civilizations
• Spanish Era
• Pioneer Era
• Modern Era
Datus studied at the Worcester Museum of Fine Arts in Massachusetts and at the Yale School of Fine Arts. In New York, he studied portraiture with Wayman Adams and also studied in London, where he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army, and resumed his painting career after the war, settling in Arizona.
In 1955-56, he painted Foundations of Confidence for the home office of the First National Bank in Phoenix, which later became the main office of Arizona Public Service (APS). "Jay Datus was the founder and director of the Kachina School of Art in Phoenix and he wrote an art column, "The Paintbox", for the Arizona Republic newspaper. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Heard Museum in Phoenix
Jay Datus died in Phoenix, AZ, October 27, 1974.
Sources:
http://www.lib.az.us/is/murals.cfm
Peter Hastings Falk, Editor, Who Was Who in American Art
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