Jim Harrington

Artist Biography

Jim Harrington was born in 1944 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He and his family moved to San Diego in 1952. His artistic endeavor evolved as an architecture major at San Diego State and the University of California, Berkeley. Jim's father, a union labor leader, was one of his early influences. Observing the relationships between social conflict and artistic expression, and between design and functional materials, his art prints and posters evolved with a growing sense of its role both culturally and aesthetically. His golf course renderings are but one facet of the diversity of his work.

Jim's own artistic philosophy first awakened while studying the Dutch and Flemish Masters' depictions of workers and common people. He feels that the responsibility of his profession is to stimulate social and artistic awareness and promote positive evolution. He promotes the classical idea of artist as participant in his art, prints and posters.

Jim has studied and worked with various cultures across the country, including Southwest Native American, Alaskan Tlingit, farmers of the Midwest and rural Vermont, and city dwellers in Chicago and New York. Since settling in Illinois in 1985, Jim has worked with many corporate agencies, initiating programs to promote positive social change and community development, and programs to benefit the homeless. He has had major shows of his art, prints, posters, paintings, textiles and sculptures, and some of his works are held in permanent museum collections.

Jim Harrington Art, Prints and Posters Collection