Five questions with KU Arts professor Norman Akers

Norman Akers
Associate Professor, Director of Art Graduate Studies
Visual Art / Painting & Drawing

Hometown: Fairfax, Oklahoma

When/how did you get interested in painting and drawing?
It's hard for me to think of a time when I was not interested in drawing. When I was a child I was fascinated with postage stamps. It was always exciting to find a letter with a commemorative stamp, mainly because they image was different from the usual stamps with important people. These images always fascinated me - the level of details, and they always seemed to be perfectly drawn. At home I would glue the stamps to the baseboards of the room. It was like I was making my own art gallery, filled with tiny images. This was long before I ever visited an art museum.

What inspires you?
It may seem cliché, but the Flint Hills and Tallgrass Prairie are a source of inspiration. I tend to marvel at this expanse of land. There still is a sense of mystery when I look at the land.

What was the last thing you read for fun?
"Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Landscape" by Laurent Savoy

My guilty pleasure:
Osage meat pies