About Charles

This business venture, Art of Charles, evolved as the result of a series of Angel art drawings and drawings of Jesus as a child that I began to do several years ago. After sharing this artwork with my family and friends, I was persuaded to offer these pieces and subsequent religious art work to the public. I am fortunate to have a skilled and dedicated team; we are blessed to be starting this new endeavor.

My parents, John and Carmella, both children of Italian immigrants, met at the Parsons School of Design in New York City in the middle of the Great Depression. They were both studying art and design. After graduation, my mother completed a Master’s degree at New York University, and taught in the New York City public schools. My dad went to work in the entrepreneurial field of merchandising display where he spent six successful decades. He established a significant reputation as the designer of animated Christmas windows on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. He used watercolors and pastels to convey his vision. Each year, from the late thirties to the mid-seventies, his ideas were brought to life and graced the holiday facades of Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy’s or Lord and Taylor.

As the youngest of three boys, I was the beneficiary of not only my parents’ artistic skills, but those of my brothers as well. John and Paul both graduated from Pratt Institute, with degrees in industrial design and fine art, respectively. All three of us had the opportunity to work in our dad’s shop. Although it did not always feel like a gift, we worked alongside craftsmen such as plaster-casting masters from Italy, German and Austrian cabinet makers, and furniture finishers well known in the trade for staining, graining and marbleizing.

Translating these experiences and influences into my own life, I chose to study architecture. This choice allowed my curiosity for science and my passion for art to complement each other. I graduated from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and then from the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University.

In my professional career, I have organized and implemented four healthcare related master facility plans for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, New York, The General Hospital in Passaic, New Jersey, Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, and currently St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany, New York.

Art of Charles is an opportunity to share my dedication to drawing, telling stories and sharing my ideas and feelings. My wife Meg, and our three children, Aline, Anne, and Dan, continue to provide support, encouragement and inspiration. My hope is that the spiritual art images I create will serve as a catalyst to inspire, teach and comfort.