NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Sept. 25, 2008
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ann Dee Lee
Public Information Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
(405) 521-2931
anndee@arts.ok.gov
HALL DUNCAN TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD
Oklahoma City, OK -- Hall Duncan, Edmond, will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 33rd Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. A writer, illustrator and humorist, Duncan will receive a Special Recognition Award for his contributions using art to educate Oklahoma children about their home state.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council, 15 individuals and three organizations will be honored for their contributions to the arts in their communities or throughout the state. The ceremony is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., Thursday, October 23rd in the 4th Floor Rotunda of the State Capitol and is open to the public. Presiding at the ceremony will be Council Chair Jim Tolbert and Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Suzanne Tate. A reception on the first floor of the Capitol will follow the 4 p.m. ceremony.
Most commonly known as “Dr. D,” this native Oklahoman’s illustrations and stories have appeared internationally, particularly in Africa where he helped train illustrators. Filled with action-packed characters, his books are dedicated to particular individuals in society who work to make it a better place. His drawing technique invites the child reader to become more visually involved in the emotions depicted in his illustrations.
Duncan discovered an artistic talent early in life and used his ability to draw cartoons to entertain classmates. The outbreak of World War II gave his work and his life a more somber bent. A member of General Patton’s 3rd Army, Duncan was shot in the hand while rescuing a wounded soldier. He worried that he’d never be able to draw again, but his future artistic endeavors proved to impact nations.
After receiving a Purple Heart, Duncan was awarded an exchange scholarship at age 23 from Oklahoma State University to study at Lingnam University in China. He traveled on to universities in Dublin, Brussels and Scotland studying political science and art. He later received his master’s degree in education from the University of Indiana. Leaving an ad agency as art director, he served the Methodist Board of Global Missions as a teacher and illustrator in the Congo and South Africa. He used his cartoons and art to help Africans develop their agricultural, literacy and medical skills. He is one of the few illustrators in the world to hold a Ph.D. in the study of pictorial perception habits of children. Cambridge University and New Readers Press, Syracuse, New York, have published some of his research.
For 17 years he taught cartooning and advertising design at the University of Central Oklahoma where he was named Teacher of the Year and received the Meritorious Service Award. During that time, he collaborated with Don Heath, an African American cartoonist, on an interracial comic strip dedicated to teaching children from all ethnic backgrounds to respect one another. Duncan and Heath were awarded the National Education Association’s Whitney M. Young Human Relations Award for their work.
Duncan claims he has never “retired,” but instead has “redirected” his endeavors. Along with his “redirection,” he has established a series of educational seminars and lectures to address the needs of academia, business corporations, health care services and retirement communities. The children’s books he has written and illustrated provide “humor, inspiration, laughter and downright foolishness.” At age 84, Duncan is busy writing yet another chapter in a life story devoted to educating and entertaining children through art.
A complete list of Governor’s Arts Awards recipients and their photos are available at www.arts.ok.gov.
For more information, contact Ann Dee Lee, Public Relations Director, Oklahoma Arts Council, (405) 521-2931 or anndee@arts.ok.gov.
ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL
The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose mission is to improve lives through the arts by promoting and sustaining the development of a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.
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