Hidden in plain sight

Bookroom clerk Ken Budz spends his free time drawing

Hallie Winterbauer, Guest Contributor|December 12, 2016

Checking his email in the bookroom, staff member Ken Budz has many different responsibilities on campus. However, away from school he spends a lot of his time either working on his art or writing. In addition to having his art shown in several galleries, Budz has also had several short stories published.

Julia Savage

Checking his email in the bookroom, staff member Ken Budz has many different responsibilities on campus. However, away from school he spends a lot of his time either working on his art or writing. In addition to having his art shown in several galleries, Budz has also had several short stories published.

Sometimes bookroom clerk Ken Budz can be seen at the Tardy Table. Other times he may be seen riding around campus in his golf cart before and after school.

But that is all that many people on campus know about Budz as his hidden art ability is something he seldom shares with anybody but those closest to him.

Ken Budz
“It’s one of the few pictures I’ve done in oil, I usually don’t paint in oil- I draw,” Budz said. “I was asked to do a picture in oil and that’s what came out.”

“I had no idea Mr. Budz could paint,” economics teacher Fred Kaiser said. “I think he has a fantastic ability that he should share with the rest of the school.”

One of the few on campus to know of his artistic ability is art teacher Pernie Fallon.

“He has had a passion for drawing for as long as I have known him,” Fallon said. “He enjoys drawing almost anything, but is especially drawn to the human figure.”

His background in art goes back decades.

“I can’t even remember how old I was, but my [first picture] wound up in Marshall Fiels’ window in downtown Chicago,” Budz said.

Quietly going about his work in a room many students walk past without thought every day, Budz has had his art displayed in multiple galleries.

Ken Budz
“Actually, that was kind of a commission,” Budz said. “As a result of that I made some prints of it and I sold prints of that picture and I was lucky to have that.”

“It’s kind of exciting- but through the years I’ve been in many, many art shows,” Budz said. “I was born and raised in Chicago, so I got my Associate in Arts degree from City Colleges of Chicago, and from there I got accepted at a place called Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts– that’s in Chicago as well. I did a lot of showing in there. Later I ended up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and I taught general drawing classes for the adult public education classes.”

Practicing his craft for years, Budz is starting to branch out and explore areas of sketching and drawing.

“Lately, I have been taking figure drawing classes- drawing the human body,” Budz said. “I can draw anything I can see. I do charcoal drawings. I have favorite subjects; I do fruits, pears.”

Fallon has seen his work in a show and is impressed by the school’s hidden artist.

“Recently, at the O’Keefe Gallery in Richardson, Mr. Budz exhibited two of his life drawings done in charcoal,” Fallon said. “His work in charcoal can be described as ‘painterly.’ This means he has good command of his strokes and values. He not only captures the likeness of his study, but also the model’s character and personality.”