The Artists

William Bradley

Bill Bradley developed two passions early in life -- art and flying. He studied animation at the New York Cartoonists and Illustrators School (now the School of Visual Arts), which led to his founding a business back home in Houston, Animated Pictures. Bill worked on some of the earliest animations for NASA's manned space program, providing material for films on Project Mercury. Animated Pictures ultimately merged with MSC's prime film subcontractor, AV Corporation, and he became head of the animation department, and continued to produce films for Gemini, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle Program. In the early 1970's he left AV corporation to open a custom framing business. Bradley's Art and Frame is in its 42nd year now and still thriving. He holds a commercial pilot certificate with instrument rating.

Victor Craft

Victor Craft was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and studied at the University of Cincinnati where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial design in 1957. He and his wife Janet moved to Florida shortly afterwards, where he worked for RCA Service Company, which operated the Missile Test Project from Patrick AFB. While his job involved technical art, he remarked that he may have been a frustrated cartoonist at heart.

Frank Kelly Freas

Frank Kelly Freas was arguably the premier artist of science fiction and fantasy. Born in Hornell, New York in 1922, he spent much of his childhood in Canada. Folowing a stint in the Army during World War II, he attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1951. His career, spanning fifty-plus years, earned him ten Hugo awards, the highest recognition in the field. His art graced the covers of innumerable science fiction and fantasy magazines, twice winning readers' poll awards for best cover of the year for Analog Magazine. In 2000 Freas was elected a Fellow of the International Association of Astronomical Artists. He died in 2005.

Robert T. McCall

Robert McCall is widely regarded as the preeminent artist of space. Science writer Isaac Asimov called him "the nearest thing to an artist-in-residence from outer space." McCall's giant mural in the National Air & Space Museum has become a cultural icon. If there was any doubt of his influence, his immortaility was ensured when Stanley Kubrick commissioned McCall to produce a set of promotional paintings for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. In addition to the Apollo 17, and Mission Control patches, McCall has designed a number of Shuttle mission patches, including STS-1, STS-3, STS-5, STS-41B, and STS-71. McCall died in 2010.

Jean Pinataro

Jean Pinataro began work at North American Aviation in 1949, creating technical art for flight handbooks which provided detailed information and procedures for test pilots who flew NAA aircraft, including the X-15 and XB-70. In 1967 Pinataro transferred to the Space Division in Downey, where she created artwork for the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. In more recent years, Pinataro's art has been influenced by her social conscience, which resulted in works such as her commentary on the Charles Keating S&L scandal.

Emilio Pucci

Emilio Pucci, Marchese of Barsento, was born in 1914 into an illustrious Florentine family. He was educated for a diplomatic career, and earned a Ph.D. in social science. A brilliant athelete, he was a member of the 1934 Italian Olympic ski team. He served as a career pilot (not an aeronautical engineer) in the Italian Air Force for 14 years, earning multiple decorations. While skiing in the winter of 1947, he met a fashion photographer who, when she learned that he had designed his own ski outfit, asked him to design some women's skiwear. Thus began a long career as a fashion designer. In the 1970's Pucci was elected to the Italian Parliament. Later he began labeling and selling the wine produced on his estate in Chianti, owned by the Pucci family since the 13th century. He died in 1992.

Allen Stevens

Allen Stevens, born in Colorado Springs, in 1915, worked for many years a a graphic artist at North American Aviation (later North American Rockwell) as a graphic artist. He retired in 1978 and died on May 21, 1994 in Orange, California.

Walter A. Weber

Born in Chicago in 1906, Walter Weber grew up as one of eleven children of poor immigrant parents. His artistic talents flowered early, and he began taking classes at the Chicago Art Institute at the age of nine. His earliest job, with the Natural History department of the Field Museum, gave him the opportunity to embark on extensive research travel. In 1936 Weber became the chief scientific illustrator for the National Park Service. In 1949 he was appointed staff artist and naturalist for the National Geographic Society, a position which allowed him to travel much of the world. In addition to illustrating many articles and books, Weber was the first artist to design two federal duck stamps. He retired in 1971, and died in 1979.

Lumen M. Winter

Born in 1908, Lumen Winter spent his childhood in western Kansas. After attending the Cleveland School of Art and New York's National Academy of Design, Winter participated in the Federal Arts Project set up by the Works Progress Administration, painting murals in public schools and post offices. During World War II he served a stint as an Air Force artist. Following this, he settled in Santa Fe. Over the next 40 years, Winter became one of the country's most reknowned muralists. His style, according to The Paris Moderne, "is not abstract nor is it realistic, but he has created synthesis which is all his own." Winter died in 1982.