MURALIST, PAINTER AND ILLUSTRATOR
CLEVELAND ARTIST
MARVIN (GARDENS) STEPHENS
October 25, 1937 – February 21, 2019
Longtime Cleveland resident, Artist Marvin (Gardens) Stephens, passed away on February 21, 2019. Born in St. Louis, MO in 1937 to parents Marvin and Eddie Stephens, sister Fay Grant, and special uncle Samuel Boyd who all preceded him in death. Marvin had a passion for the art and history of the 1930’s. As a child, Marvin loved to sketch.
Marvin, grew up on the Southside of St. Louis, MO and he went to L’Ouverture Elementary School. His earliest art training was before high school at a special city summer program in Grandel Square. He graduated from Vashon High School with honors in 1955, and went on to enlist in the United States Air Force.
Eventually Marvin moved to the Cleveland area working as an Art Editor for a trade magazine at Industrial Publishing Company, then he moved on to Wood-Compton Company as Advertising Manager. In the mid-1970’s, Marvin studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Marvin, aspired to be a more creative artist and become his own person. In 1980, Marvin painted his first mural in Rocky River’s Beachcliff Market Square.
Other local murals and paintings by Marvin are in Westlake Condominiums, Jim’s Steak House in the Flats, Johnny’s Bar and Restaurant, Playhouse Square Center’s Ohio Theatre, The Western Reserve Historical Society/Crawford Auto-Aviation Museum, Omni International Hotel , Cleveland Clinic, Stone Mad Pub, and private residential homes.
“Art is what you’re sitting in, living in, what you drive”
Marvin was well loved and received by many people, from former co-workers and friends, to the countless citizens he designed for during his time as a Cleveland Artist. He leaves not to mourn, but to celebrate his life, one daughter: Felicia Stephens-Gray (Detroit, MI); grandson: Morgan Alexander Gray (MI), sister Ellen Farwell (Los Angeles, CA), nieces: Sharon Farwell (CA), Lisa Farwell (CA), Sabrina Grant (MO), nephews: Ronald Farwell (CA), Gary Farwell (CA), Baron Farwell (CA), Gerald Farwell (CA), Garland Farwell (AL) and a host of cousins and friends.
Laid to rest
Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery
