KEITH LONG artist and educator, died at his home in New York City on September 27, 2025. An esteemed sculptor, with a career of over sixty years, Long is best known for his serial sculptural reliefs, evocative wooden constructs of collaged and repurposed found objects that bore the narrative of their own particular histories. In Memory 8, the reordered fragments of vintage furniture — chair seats, back struts and an umbrella handle — form the graceful bend of a bird’s wing, a metaphor that Long used in multiple works, particularly after the death of his beloved wife Ruth in 2017. Though highly trained, Long aligned most closely with the intuitive qualities of Art Brut, as he preferred its raw and authentic creative impulse.
Born in 1940 in Chicago, Keith Long began a formal study of art at age seven. He received a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago and an MS, MFA at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A gifted educator who inspired generations of young artists, his teaching career spanned 37 years, including University of Wisconsin and Rhode Island School of Design. He spent 24 years at Parsons School of Design where he held the positions of Assistant Chair of the Foundation Department in New York and Acting Director of Parsons in Paris. Long retired from teaching in 1999 to concentrate full time on his art.
With his wife, Ruth Stone Long, he maintained studios in New York and Paris. The sculptures he produced in Paris were often characterized by a more humorous form. Recently, Long recounted that a walk on the street resulted in a chance occurrence with a street vendor selling vintage hangers — “I bought one and then came back to buy everything he had in storage.” The hangers found their way into a series of works entitled, Prêt-à-Porter / Ready-to-Wear. Pictured below: Ready to Wear 162, Ready to Wear 73, Ready to Wear 133
Long’s distinguished career included numerous solo exhibitions at O.K. Harris Gallery in New York and Galerie Lélia Mordoch in Paris and Miami. His works were widely exhibited in the United States and France and can be found in public collections including Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the United States Embassy in Papua, New Guinea; and McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago; as well as numerous private collections.
Keith Long is survived by his son, Hogan Long of New York, New York; sister, Marlene Long Stern and niece, Jori Long Stern, both of Brookings, Oregon.
In honor of Keith Long remembrance donations may be made to The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
https://action.aclu.org/give/make-gift-aclu-someones-memory