Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Robert Lyn Nelson


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   keep. enough material seems to have been found.  DGG ( talk ) 04:14, 24 September 2014 (UTC)

Robert Lyn Nelson

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No evidence for notability as an artist. WP:CREATIVE requires work in permanent collection of a major museum, not temporary display.  DGG ( talk ) 23:18, 31 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete Promotional article by undeclared paid editor violates Terms of Use . Logical Cowboy (talk)


 * Comment A few years ago, I rescued Vladimir Kush, possibly the closest type of artist to Nelson on Wikipedia (AFD here), but I was able to find sufficient independent sources covering not only him but his works in some depth. This is not the case with Nelson. None of the current references in the article are independent of the subject and what I could find in addition to that hardly justifies his inclusion under WP:BASIC:
 * "Painter Dives into 'Two Worlds' of the Oceans", Washington Times (March 31, 2001) verifies the Smithsonian exhibition. However, it is obviously press-release based, and the more prestigious Washington Post had nothing to say about him or his art.
 * This one is from his hometown newspaper (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin) about him getting some award from the Ontario, California City Council.
 * This one on 10 successful small business entrepreneurs in Hawaii (with one paragraph devoted to Nelson) in Hawaii Business (February 1994) is perhaps the best of the lot but quite revealing:
 * "The result of his mid-day musings is today a $5 million art and publishing company known as Robert Lyn Nelson Studios, and one of the most widely recognized and profitable schools of popular art to come out of Hawaii. Nelson uses aggressive marketing—including infomercials and advertorials on Maui's visitor channels, ads in about a dozen print publications and on radio stations, and even a short documentary about his work and philosophies—to create demand for his paintings."
 * I imagine a paid-for article on Wikipedia was the next step. Voceditenore (talk) 12:35, 1 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Comment I was able to find a few third-party articles. This one is about his collaboration with a non-profit, Pacific Whale Foundation, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation . These are collaborations, probably based on fund-raising, and the organizations are not art experts. Everything else I found was directly sales-related. I think this is a delete. LaMona (talk) 15:53, 1 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Comment I to was able to find an additional article, his art having been commercialized as puzzles (one of which is here and even that his name has been trademarked .  I believe he's notable, but it's tough to see enough reliable sources to make it NPOV.  The fact that he uses aggressive marketing can't be held against him, it just makes it harder to find neutral stuff to use as a source.  Vertium '' When all is said and done 19:13, 1 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 00:54, 2 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Visual arts-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 00:55, 2 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 00:55, 2 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Tawker (talk) 22:40, 8 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete - after 9 days at AfD, this BLP is still unsourced. Bearian (talk) 14:48, 9 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Weak keep and clean up, though I can understand why the article has got peoples' backs up and suggests overt promotion. The nomination is misguided, plain and simple, having work in permanent public collections is only one of the possible alternative notability criteria for artists and creative types. Nelson clearly had a major solo exhibition, prominently reported, at the Smithsonian, so his claim to be the youngest person to have a solo exhibition seems plausible. There's other coverage available via Highbeam, e.g. Hawaii Business (1994), Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Ontario (2006), clearly suggesting he meets WP:GNG. [Edit: I see Voceditenore has already spotted these articles. It makes Bearian's claim there are no sources slightly at odds. I've changed to Weak keep, on the basis I mistook the Washington Times for the Washington Post] Sionk (talk) 22:42, 9 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Weak Keep, as much as it pains me. This was clearly a paid-for article created and edited by this sock farm who caused a huge amount of editor time cleaning up the blatant promotionalism which they repeatedly added to the article. However, what pushed me over to a "weak keep" was this reference, which I have just added:
 * Perrin, William F.; Wursig, Bernd; Thewissen, J. G.M. (eds.) (2009). "Popular Culture and Literature", p. 907. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 2nd edition. Academic Press. ISBN 0080919936
 * This has a half-page colour reproduction of his Two Worlds painting and describes him as "a prominent figure in the marine art world." The article is now in a relatively acceptable state, but will need to be continually watched for further attempts at turning it into yet another of Nelson's advertorials. Voceditenore (talk) 07:36, 10 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Relisting comment: Of note is that the article is no longer an unsourced BLP.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, NorthAmerica1000 00:43, 16 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete - Simply, not a notable artist. Temporary displays at small museums does not apply as being notable. It doesn't help that the article is an orphan as well. Aerospeed (Talk) 22:11, 23 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep The sources added by Voceditenore and Sionk push article above the line for WP:GNG. Looking in Newspapers.com, I see that he is listed in several newspaper TV program guides for an episode TNN's Outdoor Celebrities with the episode title "Marine artist Robert Lyn Nelson goes whale watching off the coat of Maui". This suggests that his notability may go back over 25 years. --I am One of Many (talk) 00:36, 24 September 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.