DESPITE BEING RARE THE MOST MASSIVE STARS (>30 SOLAR MASSES) HAVE A DISPROPORTIONATELY LARGE IMPACT FOR THEIR SMALL NUMBERS ON STAR FORMATION RATES GALAXY EVOLUTION AND CHEMICAL ENRICHMENT OF THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM. THEREFORE UNDERSTANDING MASSIVE STAR EVOLUTION IS CRUCIAL FOR DECIPHERING THE PHYSICAL MECHANISMS DRIVING THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF GALAXIES STARS AND PLANETS. THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE THAT EPISODIC MASS-EJECTIONS PLAY A PROMINENT MAYBE EVEN DOMINANT ROLE IN CONTROLLING THE LATE-STAGE EVOLUTION OF THE MOST MASSIVE STARS AND IN DETERMINING THEIR FATE. RAPID MASS-LOSS LEADS TO DUST CONDENSING OUT OF THE EJECTA OBSCURING THE STAR IN THE OPTICAL BUT REVEALING IT IN THE MID-INFRARED AS THE ABSORBED UV AND OPTICAL PHOTONS ARE RE-EMITTED AT LONGER WAVELENGTHS. STUDYING THESE SELF-OBSCURED DUSTY STARS IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THEY HELP US UNDERSTAND WHY AND HOW MASSIVE STARS LOSE MASS AS THEY AGE. THIS IN TURN TELLS US WHAT EFFECTS THE MASS LOSS AND DUST FORMATION PROCESS HAVE ON THE GALAXIES IN WHICH THESE STARS RESIDE. WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT A SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF RARE LUMINOUS DUSTY MASSIVE STARS IN ~100 NEARBY (D<11 MPC) GALAXIES AS THE NEXT IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD UNDERSTANDING THEIR EVOLUTION. BUILDING ON THE METHODS DEVELOPED AND VALIDATED BY KHAN ET AL. (2011 2013 2015) WE WILL PRIMARILY USE ARCHIVAL CRYOGENIC SPITZER DATA TO PRODUCE A COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF SELF-OBSCURED EVOLVED MASSIVE STARS IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE. WE WILL THEN SUPPORT THIS WITH EXISTING DATA FROM THE WISE 2MASS HST AND OTHER SPACE- AND GROUND-BASED OBSERVATORIES TO DERIVE THEIR BOLOMETRIC LUMINOSITY PHOTOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE AND STELLAR MASS AS WELL AS THE MASS TEMPERATURE AND OPTICAL DEPTH OF THE CIRCUMSTELLAR EJECTA. THESE RARE LABORATORIES OF STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS WILL BE SCIENTIFICALLY VERY INTERESTING TARGETS FOR DETAILED STUDY WITH THE JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE (JWST) TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ITS ORDER-OF MAGNITUDE HIGHER ANGULAR AND SPECTROSCOPIC RESOLUTION THAN SPITZER. THIS WILL ENABLE US TO PURSUE THESE KEY SCIENTIFIC GOALS: TEST THEORETICAL PREDICTIONS OF MASS LOSS FROM EVOLVED MASSIVE STARS. CHARACTERIZE THE PROGENITOR POPULATION OF THE TYPE II SUPERLUMINOUS SUPERNOVAE. ESTABLISH A NOVEL DIAGNOSTIC OF STAR FORMATION IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE. CREATE A PATHWAY FOR JWST STUDIES OF EXTRAGALACTIC STELLAR ASTROPHYSICS. WE HAVE A PROVEN TECHNICAL METHOD AND A THOROUGH WORK-PLAN TO PURSUE VALUE ADDED SCIENCE BASED ON NASA MISSIONS DATA ALREADY IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN. THE KEY TECHNICAL STEPS OF THIS PROJECT HAVE BEEN VALIDATED BY PUBLISHED RESEARCH. THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM BROADLY ADDRESSES NASA'S GOALS TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE UNIVERSE WORKS AND THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF STARS PLANETS AND GALAXIES. WE WILL FURTHER ENHANCE THE SCIENTIFIC RETURN ON NASA INVESTMENTS THROUGH PUBLISHING SPITZER 3.6-24UM CATALOG OF 2-3 MILLION MID-IR BRIGHT STARS IN THE TARGETED GALAXIES. THIS CATALOG WILL BE A VALUABLE AND TIMELY RESOURCE TO PREPARE FOR OBSERVATIONS WITH THE JWST.