Gary Thomas

2011 Honoree -- First African-American Artist with Work on Display in Three National Sports Museums

Gary Thomas is pragmatic when explaining how his interest in art led to him being hired as the first African-American artist for a commercial art studio in Cleveland and the first African-American artist with work on display in three national sports museums.

"Even as a baby, I picked up crayons and started drawing, and kept drawing and, in kindergarten, they noticed I had talent."

Today, Thomas’ talent for producing realistic renderings of prominent figures in politics, education, business and sports is etched in the executive suites of major corporations, several universities and the National Football League’s Hall of Fame.

Armed with the promise that he showed as a child, Thomas graduated from Cleveland’s Glenville High School and attended Syracuse University on a two-year art scholarship in 1954. After returning to his hometown, he completed his studies at the Cooper School of Art and became the first African-American illustrator for the prestigious Sterling-Lindner-Davis department store, drawing ads for newspapers.

After leaving the department store, Thomas worked briefly in Akron, Ohio, as the only illustrator in a small advertising agency. The studios were different from the agencies, which usually had no artists on staff, so they used the art studios, he said. "Only very small ad agencies like the one in Akron used an artist on staff."

Thomas returned to Cleveland in 1958 and began working for Manning Art Studio, where his career took root.  His reputation as a talented artist continued to grow and, in 1965, he established his own freelance business, Gary Thomas & Associates, Inc.

Thomas became the dominant artist for the NFL’s Football Hall of Fame when it opened in 1963. As of 2010, he has illustrated 175 of the 260 enshrinees, including Jim Brown, Vince Lombardi, Pete Rozelle, Jim Thorpe, Walter Payton, and Joe Montana. In 1984, Thomas was commissioned to create 12 five-foot square murals depicting "Twelve Great Moments in Bowling" for the newly built Bowling Hall of Fame & Museum in St. Louis.

Selected as the artist for the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984, Thomas painted more than half of the 78 enshrinees, including Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Floyd Patterson. The artist’s portfolio also includes illustrations for Ohio State University, Notre Dame and Miami University in Ohio, Sea World of Ohio, Proctor and Gamble and Wilson Sporting Goods. Other illustrations include children’s books, coloring books and paintings and prints of the Buffalo Soldiers and Tuskegee Airmen.

Since 2004, Thomas has been commissioned by Dominion to paint the original portrait of prominent African Americans for Dominion’s Strong Men and Women: Excellence in Leadership series.

"You’ll encounter some roadblocks, but never give up," says Thomas.