HomeNewsFeatures

Features
Air Power

FEATURES

Heritage to Horizons: Air Force documents history through art

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs
FORT DIX, N.J. (AFPN) --  For the past 60 years the Air Force has been documenting its history in photos, videos, books and many other forms of media. 

For 57 of those years, another form of archiving history has taken place through the eyes of hundreds of artists. 

Established in 1950, the Air Force Art Program has covered every major operation in which the service has been involved, said Russell Kirk, Air Force Art Program director who works for the Secretary of the Air Force administrative assistant's office at the Pentagon. 

"We have approximately 9,500 works in the program, and receive approximately 100 to 125 per year," Mr. Kirk said. "Every two years we host the 'Air Force Art Presentation' with the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force as co-hosts. This is a function that officially accepts all of the artwork donated over the past two years. It features works from artists who have been around the Air Force documenting our mission." 

The program currently has approximately 250 active artists. The works accumulated over the past 57 years represents hundreds, Mr. Kirk said. 

"The way the program operates is we work with the Society of Illustrators of New York and Los Angeles as well as the Northwest, Southwest and Midwest Air Force Artists' Groups," Mr. Kirk said. "Each has a chairman who we coordinate trips with and schedule artists to travel. We also have a select group of artists who can be ready at short notice to travel and cover events such as Hurricane Katrina, Operation Iraqi Freedom or any other type of emergency deployment the Air Force is involved in. These artists are all volunteers and take time from their families and jobs to follow in our Airmen's footsteps and document our mission." 

The art chosen for the program isn't just oil paintings, it includes all forms from watercolors to acrylic paintings to charcoal drawings and more, he said.

"We support all styles," Mr. Kirk said. "We don't dictate what style or medium of art an artist can contribute." 

Mr. Kirk and his staff work with the active artists and members at either base or major command level to coordinate trips and introduce the artists to the Air Force and military way of life. 

"We work with Air Force historians for trip coordination and public affairs for photo or illustration coverage," Mr. Kirk said. "It takes a team effort to put this together." 

One long-time contributor to the program, Keith Ferris, an artist from Morris Plains, N.J., said the art, when compared to photographs or video, provides a different, more personal, look at Air Force planes, people and units. 

"Every artist approaches their work in different ways," Mr. Ferris said. "When you look at a painting, you can see the artist's vision in creating that work. It's unique, and it's personal." 

Mr. Ferris officially joined the Air Force Art Program in 1960 with the Society of Illustrators of New York. However, his involvement with Air Force art goes all the way back to 1947 when the Air Force became its own service. 

"In the spring of 1947, I joined the Air Force's Training Publications Unit at Randolph (AFB, Texas) as a civilian apprentice artist," Mr. Ferris said. "That's even before Randolph was called an Air Force base." 

He has served on the Society of Illustrators Air Force Art Committee for most of the years since joining. He's also served on the Society's Board of Directors as Government Services Committee Chairman for 15 years and as the Society's executive vice president for two years. He continues serving now as Honorary Government Services Chairman. 

Over the years, Mr. Ferris has donated 59 pieces to the program and plans to donate a 60th piece this year to coincide with the Air Force anniversary. 

"My 60th painting will be of the T-37 (Tweet)," Mr. Ferris said. "In June of this year, I flew in a T-37 and a T-6 (Texan II). Since they'll be retiring the T-37 by early next year, I want my 60th painting to be the T-37." 

He first did some work with T-37s when they were introduced into the Air Force inventory.

 "The paint scheme you see on the T-37 today I helped design," he said. 

Mr. Ferris' first submissions to the art program were of B-52 Stratofortress' and KC-135 Stratotankers. 

"In the early 60s, I went to Westover (Air Reserve Base, Mass.), and flew on missions with the B-52 and the KC-135 to view air refueling," Mr. Ferris said. "The first painting is of the cockpit of a B-52, the second is of a B-52 and the third is called 'Sunset Refueling at 30,000 feet' showing a KC-135 and a B-52. The work just went on from there." 

Mr. Ferris said he is impressed by how much the Air Force Art Program has grown.
"The program started off with about 800 paintings the Army handed over after the Air Force became a (separate) service," he said. "The fact that it's grown to more than 9,500 pieces is wonderful." 

Continued growth and documentation is the goal of Mr. Kirk and the other art program coordinators, he said.

"The Air Force Art Program is one of the best aviation art collections in the world," Mr. Kirk said. "We appreciate everyone's support and assistance. This documentation will help tell the Air Force's story for many years in the future. Art has been around a long, long time and will continue to be a huge part of the way we capture our mission and tell the Air Force's story." 

To learn more about the Air Force Art Program, visit the program's Web site at http://www.afapo.hq.af.mil/Presentation/main/Index.cfm. 

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

View the comments/letters page