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C. Stowe Myers

1906-1995

20th Century American Artist, Designer and Photographer

Artist Friends

Designers

Sig was a very good friend of Stowe's practically since Stowe's arrival in Chicago in 1952. Sig was a famous artist that worked in many different mediums that included watercolor, brayer (paint roller) painting, heated styrofoam and sculpture in various materials. He moved from Evanston to Woods Hole, MA in the 1970s.	This is one of Sig's early brayer paintings. Sig produced a book on the technique of brayer painting.	Sig Purwin
This photo of Stowe and Sig may be from a U.S. Air Force Art Program event at O'Hare Airport in the middle 1980s as Stowe was an official artist with that program since 1978.	Sheldon Rutter was an industrial designer and became a friend and colleague of Stowe's shortly after Stowe's arrival to Chicago. Stowe credits Sheldon for giving him the idea to establish his own industrial design firm as Sheldon had successfully been a free lance designer for some years. Sheldon moved to the Washington D.C. area where he had a long career in design. The photo is of an innovative ski boot design.	Harriet Myers, Stowe's wife, was an artist in her own right. She painted mostly with oils and in her later years she combined her interest in bird watching with art by painting birds on wooden blocks. In the late 1950s and most of the 1960s she was the secretary of the Evanston Art Center in Evanston, Illinois and later became its acting director.

This photo is of Harriet painting one of her bird blocks. This one was a collaborative project with calligrapher, James Hayes.		Joe Fretz is a Denver artist and photographer. He is standing by one of his photographs entitled Industrial Design. Coming soon is Joe's bio and his artist statement as well as images of a few more of his works. Check out Joe's website (see link below).
	Joe Fretz Acrylic on Canvas, 54" X 40" 2001	Joe Fretz Acrylic Watercolor, 25" X 33", 2002
Joe Fretz Digital photo, 2019, Denver Reflections Series	Joe Fretz Acrylic on Canvas, 36" X 44", 1992	Susan Bland, Stowe's mother-in-law, with her son, Edward Bland, about to enter her art show in the early 1960's. She didn't start painting until her late 50's but showed quite a talent for it and she was painting with oils. She was a walking Bartlett Quotations and was also horseback riding at 80.
		James Hayes was a neighbor, good friend and renowned calligrapher. He and Stowe would sometimes attend the Caxton Club meetings together. James and Harriet Myers collaborated on a few of her bird blocks in which he provided text sometimes consisting of the Latin name of the bird. He and his wife, Nellie and his younger son, Duncan, moved to Colorado in the early 1970's. Upon James' death, the Colorado Calligraphers' Guild produced a very meaningful tribute to him ...to be continued...
Bill Stipe was an artist who taught art and design at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. When copy machines first came on the scene, Bill would use them to make compositions of copied images often curiously incorporating bar codes into the collages. Chicago author Norbert Blei interviewed Bill for his book, Chi Town, published in 1990, 2003.	An abstract from the late 1950s. This is around the time a couple of his abstracts were in the 59th Annual Chicago and Vicinity Exhibition (1956) and were prize winners.	Images of artist Bruce Thurman from his website. Stowe & Harriet were very impressed with Bruce's talents even before he was in high school. See the link below to his website.
	Lisa met Stowe through the USAF Art Program in the late 1970s. She's an active Midwest artist.
Photo clip from Joseph Burlini's biographical video on You Tube.	Joseph Burlini's first design job was with Stowe Myers on the Ecycolpaedia Britannica exhibit project in 1968 (see the Stowe Myers Industrial Design Gallery). Joe went on to work for the Sears design department and after a few years, he decided to work as a sculptor full time. Joe and Stowe got together again through the USAF Art Program and were on a number of trips together. Joe became the president of the Chicago Chapter of the USAF Art Program (see more in the Gallery of Temporary Shows).	This photo was taken on one of the USAF Art Program trips.
This photo was taken on July 28, 1979 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. Stowe's painting from this trip is included in the Watercolor Paintings gallery.	Wilbert Seidel was a professor of art at Northwestern University from 1939-1977. Besides being a friend and neighbor, he and Stowe would attend Caxton Club meetings together at the Newberry Library in Chicago. He also was a friend, colleague and supervisor of another professor of art at Northwestern University appearing earlier in this gallery, Bill Stipe.	Natalie Crews was a dear friend of Harriet Myers who encouraged Natalie to take classes at the Evanston Art Center. Natalie became quite well known for her abstract painting and pottery and her work has been included in many Chicago area exhibits.
Natalie Crews wrapped in one of her paintings and standing by another one.		Natalie Crews
	This photo of Natalie Crews standing by her painting, Dreams was taken at her residence in 2018.	Hershel is a photographer who was an assistant professor of photography at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas from 1972 - 2005. He became friends with Stowe while he was studying photography at the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Since retiring, he and his wife, Jamie have been traveling worldwide and his recent photography includes images from these trips.
This photo was taken by Stowe's son, Charlie, on a shrimp boat in the Gulf of Mexico in 1974 when Hershel was working on a photo documentary of a Cajun family.	This photo is from an early series of photos taken on the South Side of Chicago when Hershel was studying at IIT.	Charleen painted on location with Stowe once on the West Bank of New Orleans in the spring of 1992.
Charleen was born and raised in historic Belle Rose, Louisiana - south of Baton Rouge on Bayou Lafourche. She received her BFA from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She also attended the Orleans Academy of Fine Art where she studied under Dell Weller, TM Nichols, Dale Laitinen, Ray Vinella and Tom Hughes.	Charleen worked at Le Mieux Gallery in New Orleans as an art consultant and was a former member of the Plein-air Painters of Nevada showing regularly in Reno and Lake Tahoe. She lives in Taos where she is a member of the Harwood Museum and the Taos Art Association.	Charleen met Stowe in the late 1980s through his son, Charlie Myers. She and Stowe painted and socialized together until his death in 1995.
		In 1966 Stewart Reed returned to Evanston, IL after making films for the Mamas and the Papas folk/rock group in New York City. Stewart's parents introduced him to Stowe. Stewart used Stowe's well equipped studio space to make a few drawings and several abstract art films.
	Both abstracts were produced by Stewart at Stowe's office/studio in November of 1966.	George Weir was hired by Stowe and worked full time in the early 1960s. Other important staff were Dick Lannigan, Mike Joss, Henning Speyer and Bob Mestrovic.
Dave Chapman was one of Chicago's famous industrial designers and his firm was one of the largest and longest lasting in the area. This photo was taken while he and Stowe were painting on location. Stowe credits Dave for getting him out painting on location on a regular basis. Their Sunday morning paint outs started in the spring of 1976.	Dave Chapman on a paint out on Lake Michigan with other artists from probably the Artist Guild.	A watercolor by Dave Chapman probably painted in the middle 1970s.
Hamilton Coulter was Stowe's brother-in-law. Ham received the French Medal of Honor for finding and securing art treasures during World War II. Similar to Stowe, he also was trained as an architect.	This fiber glass sculpture by Henning Speyer was produced from his Pilsen studio, Chicago in the later 1960's. Stowe hired Henning as a designer in the middle to late 1960s. Henning worked on the Gibson guitar amplifier project. Henning died in 2007.	A fiber glass sculpture by Henning Speyer from the late 1960's.
Larry was an actor by avocation and was in many plays in community theaters around Chicago. These photos are from one of his promotional brochures. He and Stowe would often have lunch together at Round Robin on Diversey.	Jack & Alice Wright were Midwest artists who often exhibited their work in shows around the Chicago area. They were both involved with the Evanston Art Center for decades. Jack was also a designer/artist with the famous Toy Tinkers,a Division of A. G. Spaulding & Bros., Inc. located in Evanston, Illinois.

Industrial Design Friends

Designers

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