As Judith Newmark of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier today, Agnes Wilcox, best known for her work with Prison Performing Arts, died Monday at the age of 70 while vacationing in Canada with her husband, theater critic Bob Wilcox. He told the newspaper that his wife had been found on the edge of the water after going for a swim, adding that she was a strong swimmer, and was in great physical shape, which made her death “puzzling.” An autopsy will be conducted in Ontario, with a St. Louis Memorial Celebration to be announced later.
Wilcox’s work was legendary in St. Louis. After heading PPA for more than 20 years, she retired in January 2016, and was honored with a Lifetime Acheivement Award from the St. Louis Arts & Education Council.
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PPA’s work also received national attention, most notably when it was highlighted in a series of episodes on This American Life. Here are a few stories from our archives, highlighting Wilcox’s groundbreaking work at the junction of art and social justice:
Staging Old Masters: Former Prisoners Perform at the Pulitzer
We will post updates to this story as we get them.
