J. Craig Thorpe's interest in rail and art dates
from his formative years in Pittsburgh, PA. His grandfather regularly
took him on train and streetcar rides, and with his parents, he often
lingered to watch the nightly passage of the Baltimore and Ohio's famed
Capitol Limited. The imagery of those experiences shaped the foundation
of a career.
Thorpe studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh,
and graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a BFA in Industrial
Design. Following a short stint in the US Army Transportation Corps, he
worked for architects and landscape architects in Virginia. After
graduate school in New England, Thorpe moved to Seattle, WA. In 1985 he
began free-lance architectural illustration. When Amtrak featured his
painting of the new Olympia, WA station on its 1993 corporate calendar,
Thorpe's rail art began to be recognized nationally.
While Mr. Thorpe still does architectural
illustration and historical rail art, his specialty is contemporary
railroading. He is often commissioned to show future rail
infrastructure and transportation options thereby helping to shape
public perception and policy. All his work reflects the ethic that rail
transportation enables the stewardship of land, resources and
community.
His clients include General Electric, the White Pass & Yukon Route,
various state transportation departments and Amtrak. Notable
among his Amtrak commissions is the 2008 commemorative art for the
centennial of Washington D.C Union Station. Most of Mr. Thorpe's
published works are oil-on-canvas, but many of his conceptual rail
pieces use rendering techniques of pencil, ink and watercolor.
His art has appeared in Arizona Republic, Denver Post, USA Today,
National Parks Magazine, Alfred Runte's Allies of the Earth: Railroads
and the Soul of Preservation, and other books, newspapers and journals.
Mr. Thorpe serves on the executive Committee of the
Issaquah (WA) Valley Trolley, a new rail line east of Seattle, and
works with various organizations dedicated to formulating and
implementing rail policy. He occasionally volunteers as an
interpretive guide on the Cascade Mountain portion of Amtrak's Empire
Builder. Mr. Thorpe is also often asked to speak on the themes of
railroads, art and their relationship to landscape and community
preservation. His wife and three grown children share his vision for
rail as a necessary means for the preservation of America’s landscapes
and cityscapes.
