Ask artist Charles Basham how he felt after retiring from 40 years of teaching at Kent State University’s School of Art in 2023 and he’s quick to answer.
“Turns out, it felt great,” he said.
While he does not miss the early morning commutes from his home in Medina to Kent’s campus for a 7:45 a.m. class, he does miss the daily interactions with his students.
“I liked talking to the students,” Basham said. "And they’ll tell you the same thing – that it was a good arrangement.”
Now unencumbered by the everyday demands of a full-time teaching job, Basham has unlimited time to devote to his other career – as an artist.
Kent State recently honored his body of work with a retrospective spotlighting his talent in both painting and pastels.
“Continuum: The Painting of Charles Basham,” tells the story of Basham’s ability to capture ever-changing landscapes through vibrant colors and shapes.
An early start
Basham’s creativity dates to his childhood, though his first aspiration heading into college was to become a veterinarian.
“I took enough biology and chemistry classes to realize this was not a viable option,” Basham said. "I decided, ‘Well, I’ve always liked to draw and paint, let’s see where this goes.’ And it became increasingly important to me.”
After receiving a box of pastels from a former teacher, Basham quickly appreciated the immediacy of creating with pastels while out drawing from nature.
“It became a habit and eventually, I guess, a vocation,” he said.
One with the land
Basham works from a light-filled studio next to his home, the windows offering views of the farmland that served as the backdrop to his formative years.
“My upbringing, at least as a part-time farmer, made me respect the land,” he said. “The land, particularly this land, has really become a functional part of what I do.”
The landscape itself isn’t Basham’s focus. In fact, he said it’s the least interesting thing about what he’s seeing.
“I’m not looking at the subject so much as its relationship to the light and the way I’m pushing color to define it,” he said. “Color is what really moves me. I’m just using this land as a vessel… a jumping off point.”
Though he intimately knows the land, the details are always changing, through weather, seasons and times of day.
“I like the times in the morning, in the evening when there’s such a dramatic change that it sort of transforms into something you might not have seen before,” Basham said. “It might just be something out of the corner of my eye, and I’ll say, ‘OK, let’s see what that looks like.’”
Many influences
Basham didn’t immediately agree to the idea of the retrospective.
“He took a little convincing,” said Anderson Turner, director of exhibitions and collections at Kent State’s School of Art.
Turner, who’s worked with Basham for 25 years, wanted to honor not only the legacy of Basham’s work but also the impact he’s had on students and the university.
“The work has always been more than what you see when you see him,” Turner said. “He is humble, funny, curmudgeonly. All the things that if you hang out with Chuck long enough, or if you’ve ever had him for a class, you would know.”
The title of the exhibition – “Continuum” – reflects the space where Basham sees himself as an artist.
“It talks about the connection between this thread, this chain, between the people I worked with,” Basham said.
A number of Basham’s instructors have work featured in the show, along with several of his students.
“I’m sort of the middle of the hub,” he said.
Turner said the exhibition also reflects Basham’s lifelong commitment to his craft.
“You never get to retire as an artist,” Turner said. “I think Chuck is an amazing example of that and has shown and continues to show that level of artistic research and commitment that we’ve really cherished here at the School of Art.”
