Born in Flagler, Colorado, Anna Keener was raised in Dalhart, Texas. She attended Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, earning both a BFA and a BA.She served as her instructor, BirgerSandzén's assistant for four years. Keener attended summer classes at the Art Institute of Chicago, and later enrolled in night classes at the Detroit School of Design while serving as a clerk in the U.S .Navy. After a stint as school supervisor and public schoolteacher in Globe, Arizona, she spent three years as an art teacher at Kansas City High School, during which time she also studied at the Kansas City Art Institute. In 1923, she published a book, "Spontaneity in Design."
After her marriage to Louis Raymond Wilton in 1925, she taught drawing at the Sul Ross State Teacher's College in West Texas. [A 2011 show at the Museum of the Big Bend there, The Lost Colony: Texas Regionalist Paintings, showcases her work along with other artists who taught at the program and painted in the area near Marfa.] Taking time off to have twins, Keener returned to teaching in New Mexico, first at a one-room schoolhouse in Red River, then in Ojo Caliente, Las Vegas, and Gallup. In Gallup, she painted the mural, "The Zuni Potters," for the McKinley County Courthouse. Keener studied in Mexico City in 1941 and 1942. Obtaining a masters degree at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, she served for twelve years on the faculty at Eastern New Mexico State University, Portales, retiring as head of the art department.
Remaining a lifelong advocate of the role of art in education, she now devoted herself to her art, moving to Santa Fe in 1954. Ever the student as well, she studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in the early sixties.
Using bright vivid colors, Keener had an eye for volumes, such that her landscapes elements have a strong three-dimensional quality. The general effect is a heightened perception, or a crisp, brightly lit day. In 1969 Keener said: "I am stimulated by everything. Using new media (which in itself is exciting), each day challenges me to create something fresh and meaningful and of interest to others. I hope."
Awards: Bronze Medal for Graphic Arts, Midwestern Artists' Exhibition, 1922; Honorable mention for Graphic Arts, Midwestern Artists' Exhibition. 1923.
Exhibited: Annual Exhibition of Texas Artists, Dallas Woman's Forum, 1927; Annual Texas Artists Exhibition, Fort Worth, 1927; Southern States Art League Annual Exhibition, 1930; Painters and Sculptors of New Mexico, Santa Fe, 1949-1950; Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe (prize), 1953; Springville Museum of Art, Utah, 1957; Tucson Art Festival, Arizona, 1958; Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas,1959 one-woman.
Memberships: American Artists Professional League; American Federation of Arts; Art of America Society; Artists Equity; International Institute of Arts and Letters; National and New Mexico Art Education Associations; Southern States Art League; and Western Art Association
Works Held: Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery, Lindsborg Kansas; Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas; Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon, Texas; Texas Historical Society; Museum of Fine Arts and New Mexico State Library, Santa Fe; Santa Fe Public Library; Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico; San Francisco Public Library, California; John H. Vanderpoel Art Association, Chicago, Illinois; Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas; and University of Oklahoma, Norman.
