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A Calling to Art

Hamilton, Ohio – It makes perfect sense.


Charley Harper created an iconic style of nature art and did so on a prolific scale for six decades.


His son Brett – an artist and designer in his own right – now oversees and continues the family business as the director of Charley Harper Studio in the Cincinnati suburb of Finneytown.


“We’ve always been a family of artists, my father, mother and I,” Brett Harper said. “We’ve shown art all around the country and always helped one another with our shows. My late father was getting up in years and he asked me if I could help him out. He said, ‘You have the perfect resume for me.’”


Brett appears as the featured guest for the Fitton Center’s Celebrating Self luncheon speaker series Wednesday, November 6, presenting his illustrated lecture, Wild Life: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charley Harper.


“It’s not a job,” Brett said. “I’ve never thought of it as a job. It’s a calling. I don’t second guess it at all. I’m happy to share Charley’s art and conservation message.”


What’s so enduring about Charley Harper’s art? For one thing, the sheer volume of it.


“It’s amazing how many pieces of art he made,” Brett said. “He had a 60-year career and we can account for about 5,500 images. That’s everything from small drawings to big, complicated murals. But it’s a tremendous body of work.


“He had the ability to be working on many pieces simultaneously. And he said yes to just about every assignment because he never knew when the next one would come. Or if it would.”


That kind of high volume can only be born from high quality. Harper’s work is distinctly evocative with a laser-sharp point of view.


“It has the mid-century modern vibe that’s still in vogue,” Brett said. “It uses humor to advocate for critical environmental issues, so it’s non-threatening and non-confrontational. One of our licensees said it’s still popular because it’s appealing to kids age 3 to 103. It’s accessible and it’s straightforward.”


Brett said his favorites among his father’s work are silkscreen prints of watersliders.


“These remarkably complex insects, through a series of engineering feats and physics I don’t really understand, skim across the water,” he said. “My father’s drawings simplified them. He called them Jesus Bugs, because they seem to walk on water.”


Charley Harper’s love for the natural world fueled and informed his art.


“He said himself in a note from 1966, ‘If I hadn’t become an artist, I’d have become a conservationist,’” Brett said. “I like to make the case that he really become both.”


Celebrating Self tickets are $23 for Fitton Center members, $30 for non-members, and are available online here, by phone at 513-863-8873, ext. 110 or in person at the Fitton Center box office.


Books and other Charley Harper merchandise will be available for purchase at the event.


The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.


Building Community Excellence through the Arts and Culture


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