Bob Callahan, Renaissance Man: Actor, Artist, Graphic Designer, Poet



Bob Callahan



           If Bob Callahan lived in Japan, he'd be designated a Living National Treasure, a title awarded to "bearers of important intangible cultural assets." For Callahan, who never ceases to stop searching for new forms of artistic expression, has seamlessly expressed his visions as an award-winning graphic designer, a dynamic actor and narrator, an up and coming writer and a fine artist who puts into artistic form, his feeling of engagement with the world.

While expressing his lifelong creativity, Callahan raised a family of six in Stamford, with his wife, Lou.  Four of his children have followed his artistic example. "I showed them what a great way it was to go through life, even though you didn't get a paycheck every week."

Wife, Lou Callahan, has always been supportive. "We're married almost 50 years and she recently told me, 'Life has never been boring.' I take that as a very high compliment."

            He's a man who is known for his community spirit, having donated his talents to a multitude of arts organizations. It was his association with the Stamford Symphony, as well as his melodious basso voice that led to his recent performance as narrator of "Peter and the Wolf.'" "The kids loved it," says Callahan. "I painted a picture with words."

He's also appeared as the narrator at Sterling Farm's performance of "Our Town" and has acted in numerous shows at Stamford's old Hartmann theatre, where he acted alongside Bob Balaban and Austin Pendleton. His "can-do" attitude is reflected in his recollection of his first acting gig. "I saw a call for auditions over at Sterling Farms and thought, let's see what this is all about." Although he had never acted before, he was cast in Brian Friel's "Philadelphia Here I Come."

"I had to learn to focus so I could become the character," says Callahan. "I believe that taking chances is what makes living such fun."

            Callahan has been drawing since he was a teenager and originally thought of becoming a cartoonist for Disney. He comes from an artistic family -- his father kept sketchbooks when he served in World War I and his maternal grandfather and his uncle started Universal Pictures with Carl Laemmle. "I remember Boris Karloff and Claude Raines and Basil Rathbone coming to the house, but I didn't want to go to Hollywood. I wanted to stay here and become an artist."

When Callahan returned from military service in Korea in 1955, he visited the School of Visual Arts in New York City where he discovered graphic design. His list of past and present clients includes AT&T, Arrow Electronics, Citicorp, GE, Pepperidge Farm, UPS and Yale Rep. He's still a designer at the age of 72, but retirement is not only excluded from his vocabulary, he adds, "Creating is living." He's also just finished a book in which he shows the strong Latin roots of English words. "There's no reason why you cannot do it all," says Callahan. "I follow my passions and I have more than one." He also hopes to continue teaching and has given several lectures at the University of Connecticut on "Visual Thinking."



Cottage, Lake



 He puts his theories into continual action. When he read that Lloyd Richards was the new artistic director at Yale University and Dean of Yale Drama, he called Richards. "I said, you don't know me but I'm a graphic designer and love theater and would like you to consider my doing some of the work. He believes in his work and his motto is: "You cannot be afraid of rejection -- you must take a chance."

Callahan did his graphic design for Yale Rep before there were computers and had to do them by hand, including the typography. "I learned an awful lot about theater because I'd sit there during rehearsals and do sketches and was introduced to Ibsen and Chekov and Shakespeare."

           Callahan's watercolors are an outgrowth of his habit of carrying a sketchbook everywhere he goes, whether it's Bermuda, Watch Hill, Rhode Island or even downtown's Avon Theater on a Friday evening. "I might see someone slumped in a chair, eating popcorn, and I'll do a quick sketch." 



Scene's from Callahan's Sketchbook



           Choosing watercolors was a courageous step, even for a man used to taking chances. Although he was taught color theory and studied with Bob Gill, later one of Pentagram's (London) founders, he is self-taught in watercolor. The artist values "freshness" and loves the elements of surprise that watercolor allows. "You have to figure out what happens when this wet brush hits that wet paper -- what kind of accidents are going to occur. You plan the watercolor in your mind and then execute it quickly. You learn little tricks as time goes by, such as letting the background dry to a certain point and then putting in the mountains in so you get a bit of softness between the mountains and the sky. And then you go to the museum and study how Winslow Homer solved his problems."  In doing this, he raises a simple landscape to iconic status.

Couple in Snow

 Check this blog for more information on Bob Callahan's upcoming shows this spring.