Argraves was a familiar figure to many Rockford moviegoers and art lovers. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II he returned to his native Rockford and devoted the remainder of his life to the arts. Locally, he was known for his commitment to managing local theaters such as the Coronado, the Times, the Midway and the State. Argraves was an accomplished self-taught artist who worked in oil and watercolor. In later years, he was honored as Rockford Art Museum’s 1997 Jessica Holt Purchase Award winner for his oil painting Cubist City, which is now part of the museum’s permanent collection. Upon receiving the award, Red humbly stated, “My mother would be so pleased because she is the one who encouraged me in art and used to bring me to the Burpee Art Museum [now RAM].”—The Rock River Times, 2010
