Air Force Art Program artist documents Expeditionary Center Airmen

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
  • U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center Public Affairs
FORT DIX, N.J. --  In November, artist John Witt visited the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center here with Keith Ferris, noted aviation artist in the Air Force Art Program, as the chair and honorary chair respectively of the New York Society of Illustrators.

During the visit Mr. Witt and Mr. Ferris, both multi-decade veterans of the Air Force Art Program, met with the Expeditionary Center's leadership. They explored ways to identify and utilize works in the Air Force collection that would illustrate the Center's current activities in expeditionary and mobility training as well as document present and future activities with their artist associates in the Society.

"In the course of our discussion with Maj. Gen. (Kip) Self and the attending leadership, I created a rough sketch and proposed creating a symbolic painting (for the Center)," Mr. Witt said.

The painting Mr. Witt envisions contains images of Airmen in their respective gear as well as "Liberty", the eagle mascot, and the Center's motto and emblem. The framed oil painting on stretched canvas is planned to measure nearly 7-by-5 feet.

On Dec. 11 and 12, Mr. Witt made a return visit to the Center to complete preliminary work for the proposed painting.

"I am very grateful to the EC staff for selection of the proposed models, their uniforms and equipment," Mr. Witt said. "A schedule was developed for my visit that not only allowed me the ability to take reference images with a camera, but also to do on-the-spot drawings of each participant. The nine drawings, like the eventual painting, will also be donated to the Air Force collection and will be displayed in a single frame."

The material Mr. Witt creates eventually makes its way to the Air Force art collection -- the world's largest collection of aviation art, according to Mr. Russell D. Kirk, director of the Air Force Art Program 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've been documenting our mission."

Mr. Witt, who turned in his first piece to the Air Force collection in 1980, said the program lives up to its motto of "History though Art."

"The participating artists are given an opportunity to witness the U.S. Air Force and its involvement in world history and, through their art, become a small part of it," Mr. Witt said. "That is a big motivator for most of us -- to volunteer our time and talents."

Mr. Witt's art pieces on the Expeditionary Center will be completed some time in 2009.

JOHN WITT - A BIOGRAPHY
Born in Wilmington, Del., in 1940, Mr. John Witt received a bachelor's degree in fine art in 1962 from the Philadelphia College of Art. He subsequently served for three years of active duty with the U.S. Army Exhibit Unit, where he helped create the Army's "Man on the Moon" Exhibit at the New York World's Fair, exhibits at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and special projects at the Pentagon and White House. Several of his paintings are included in the U.S. Army, War Art Collection.

The military art by Mr. Witt is also derived from experiences as a civilian combat artist with U.S. Marines in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 and through numerous assignments with the US Air Force Art Program including Operation Team Spirit in Korea in 1986, Operation Enduring Freedom in the Pacific in 2001, Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq in 2003, and during the Air Force's tsunami relief effort in December 2005.

Elected as a three-term president of the Society of Illustrators, Mr. Witt was awarded the Dean Cornwell Recognition Award for establishment of the Museum of American Illustration. He is the recipient of national awards in many mediums and his works are included in many public and private collections. 

Listed in Who's Who in America, American Art, and the World, Mr. Witt remains active as a documentary and portrait artist.