Michael Everett
1936 – 2019
Educator, artist, architect, and landscape architect Michael Everett died at 83 in Kent, Connecticut on August 8, 2019, after a nearly year-long battle with cancer.
John Michael Everett was born May 19, 1936, in New York City. His education began at the Little Red Schoolhouse in Greenwich Village and continued at New York area public schools. He went on to earn his Bachelor’s and Master’s of Architecture, studying under Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania. He later earned a Master’s in Landscape Architecture at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.
After brief stints teaching at Ohio University and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, he joined the faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design in 1969. He taught Architecture and Landscape Architecture and chaired the Landscape Architecture Department. When the school’s faculty unionized and went on strike in 1979, Michael served as a negotiator for the faculty. In 1995 he was appointed Dean of RISD’s Division of Architecture and Design, a position he held until his retirement in 2000.
Michael practiced architecture, landscape architecture, and planning, working at his Providence, RI firm Everett Associates with a succession of RISD colleagues, past students, and sons. He also founded and ran the not-for-profit Regional Land Program, a community assistance planning organization. He devoted himself to professional practice and public service in land conservation, historic preservation and urban design in Rhode Island and throughout New England.
Michael spent over 50 years designing, building and shaping his residence and its landscape in Kent. He retired there with Anne, his wife of 61 years, a longtime singer and avid gardener, who remains active in her local church. His community service continued in the town of Kent as a member of the planning board and president of the Kent Historical Society.
A prolific two-dimensional artist and sculptor throughout his life, in retirement Michael continued to make stencil paintings using a technique he developed. He applied paint through cut layers of mylar to produce unique images of observed landscapes, cityscapes, and patterns and textures. His paintings were shown in exhibits
Michael is survived by his wife Anne, their six sons, Peter, Hugh, David, John, Paul and Matthew, daughter-in-law Laura, and seven grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on August 24, 2019, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 5 N Main Street, Kent, CT with a reception to follow at noon. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Kent Historical Society, P.O. Box 651, Kent, CT 06757. For directions or to send the family an online condolence, please visit http://www.hufcutfuneralhome.com
