J. Craig Thorpe
American 1948 -

As a child, Craig Thorpe developed a keen interest in railroads. His grandfather often took the boy on train and trolley rides and, with his parents, Thorpe would watch the nightly passage of the Baltimore and Ohio's famed Capitol Limited. He studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a BFA in Industrial Design. After graduate school in New England, Thorpe moved to Seattle. In 1985, he began his career as a freelance artist, focusing on architectural illustration. Rail subjects became his specialty, however, when he produced a spectacular painting for the new Olympia, Washington, rail station. Thorpe's work soon became recognized nationally. His corporate clients include Amtrak, Alaska Railroad, Grand Canyon Railway and Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum. Thorpe is often asked to lecture on the subject of railroad and art, and their relationship to landscape and community preservation.