Historical Lehi
World famous artist Stan Wanlass reflects on career and Lehi roots
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series on world-famous automotive artist and Lehi native Stanley Wanlass. Next week, learn more about his accomplishments, what he has learned throughout his illustrious career and how “to be successful, you have to get a few scars.” Wanlass will be honored at Lehi Heritage Day on September 1.
Lara M. Bangerter | Lehi Historical Society
Lehi native Stanley Wanlass is a world’s most famous automotive artist, known for his sculptures, automotive designs, paintings and historical monuments.
His website reads, “Wanlass bronzes are called ‘rolling-sculpture’ by some and ‘just plain sensuous’ by others. The Detroit News says, ‘Wanlass bronzes seem to be moving despite being trapped in bronze.’ The great Peter Helck [the preeminent illustrator who specialized in early 20th century racecars] calls Wanlass, ‘the finest sculptor of the automobile,’ while Automobile Quarterly considers Wanlass, ‘the ranking sculptor of the automobile.’”
Wanlass was born in Lehi in 1941 to Glen and Alta Butler Wanlass. He was the second of four children to grow up at 442 N. Center St. His maternal grandfather was an easel painter, his mother had a keen eye for colors and design, and his father was a university scholar in geology, who also owned Glen’s Service Station at the northeast corner of Main Street and 100 East.
As a child, Wanlass was always doodling and enjoyed carving cars out of soap. When he got a little older, he pinstriped anything he could get his hands on, including bikes, guns, cars, trashcans, the cash box and so forth. “Nothing was safe,” said his older sister, Rhea Lewis.
By the time Wanlass was 14, he had a 1932 Ford in his father’s extra service bay and two other vehicles on the front lawn at home, including a three-window, black Ford coup that he purchased for $20 from a local man who needed cash quickly.
The other was a 1948 Ford convertible, a relatively new car at the time. It came to him for $20 as well. A drunken traveler won the car in Las Vegas, failed to check the oil and burned the engine up just a mile from Glen’s Service Station. He walked in and offered Wanlass $20 for the car which paid the man’s bus ticket back to Idaho.
To support his automotive pursuits, Wanlass striped, scalloped and flamed cars for customers throughout Utah and at California car shows with some of the biggest names in the business.
Cars and art “became a part of me,” said Wanlass. “I was always interested in art and automobiles, any kind of transportation and…all types of conveyance.”
Wanlass was lucky. He grew up in the golden age of automobiles when speed and style reigned supreme.
“It was a wonderful time during the 1950s and 1960s,” said Wanlass. It was a time when you saw “the big chrome teeth of the Buick or the big tail fins of the Cadillac. Now, all cars look alike, and the Cadillac looks like a Volkswagen. Economy and efficiency rule. Everything emerges … precisely like the thing before, and the romance is kind of going out of it.”
Fortunately, Wanlass is a master at capturing the speed, style and romance of cars. Just one example is his “High Rollers” bronze sculpture, which he created in 1990. It features a couple in a 1911 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost racing a greyhound. Though bronze, the vehicle’s wheels appear to be spinning as the dog leaps for his next bound and the woman clutches her scarf to keep from losing it to the wind.
His “New York to Paris ‘08” bronze sculpture portrays Thomas Flyer winning the 1908 New York to Paris Race. The car and men zip along with Flyer’s trusty team, including the photographer who unexpectedly tagged along, and an American flag flying off the back of the vehicle.
These pieces, like most of Wanlass’ works, capture the speed, style and spirit of the early days of the automobile.
Tonight, the Salt Lake Art Museum will celebrate Wanlass in its Utah Artist Master Series.
On Sept. 1, from 4-6 p.m., Wanlass will show his works and greet guests at the Lehi Heritage Day 2025 event, “Speed, Spirit and Soul: Stanley Wanlass and the Artists of Lehi” in the north gym of the Legacy Center at 123 N. Center.
