Folk artist dies at 65

Taft Richardson Jr., a Tampa folk artist, teacher and community leader famous for his elaborate, biblically inspired bone sculptures, died Sunday after a battle with prostate cancer, his family said. He was 65.

"He felt strongly about children and making the community better, teaching wisdom and letting children have something to do to broaden their life experience," said former daughter-in-law Jacquelyn Green.

Mr. Richardson, a longtime vegetarian, first realized his artistic calling as a young man, when he envisioned a giraffe in a plate of rib bones. He spent the rest of his life collecting animal bones, which he melded with a mix of crushed bone and glue. He devoted his life to teaching children to paint, sculpt and grow plants. Neighborhood kids painted colorful designs on the walls of his home, which many referred to as the Garden of Eden.

"If the child can walk, he can dance,'' Mr. Richardson told the St. Petersburg Times in 2006. "If he can color with a crayon, he can paint. ... It's a struggle, man, from the womb to the tomb. We have to take care of our children.''

Read a 2006 profile of Mr. Richardson by Jeff Klinkenberg here.

Stephanie Hayes, Times Staff Writer. Photo by Times photographer Joseph Garnett Jr.

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