May 15, 2013
05/16/13 An exhibit of the works of the late Culver Academies’ art instructor emeritus Charles Duff is on display through June 2 at the Crips Visual Arts Center on the campus.
The Crisp Visual Arts Center is located on Academy Road. The Charles T. Duff Faculty Emeritus Memorial Exhibition is free and open to the public each Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m. Groups desiring a tour should contact Robert Nowalk, gallery coordinator, at (574) 842-8278.
The exhibition recognizes one of the Academies’ most respected and beloved master instructors of fine arts, Nowalk said. Comprising more than 60 works in 10 media, the exhibit reflects the life and experiences of the artist and the works are drawn from the private collections of more than a dozen family, friends, students, and colleagues.
His work has been shown and admired across North America and Europe. Duff worked in a variety of media, including watercolor, egg tempura, wax encaustic, pastel, and printmaking.
Duff’s lifelong passion for art was formed during his childhood in West Virginia. “I was meant to be an artist,” he once said. “Nothing else worked as well as art. Art was the only time I had contentment.”
After serving in the Air Force as a fighter pilot, Duff studied at the Edinburg College of Art in Scotland, where he met his future bride, Anne. After marrying, they moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., where Duff attended the Pratt Institute and earned a master’s degree in Fine Arts in painting and printmaking.
Combining his military service with his art, Duff worked as a cartographer and illustrator at the U.S. Naval and Oceanography Office in Washington, D.C., before deciding to teach.