Award Winning Sculptor

Painter

Draws

Engineer

Tom Christie was born and raised in Marion and attended Marion High School from 1972 to 1975. Under the mentorship of MHS art instructor George Kind, Tom won a National Hallmark award for his artwork in 1974 and was honored as the outstanding art student in the graduating class of 1975. He credits his time as a Marion Giant as a key contributor to his later success as an artist. Tom went on to school at Purdue University, graduating in 1980 with a degree in mechanical engineering. While pursuing a career in manufacturing, Tom never lost his love for the creative arts. His appreciation of the great outdoors along with his passion for drawing, painting, and sculpting led to the creation of his first wildfowl carvings in 1986. Since that time Tom has become one of the most prominent wildlife artists in the country while also maintaining a successful career as a manufacturing executive. Tom is a six-time world champion at the prestigious Ward World Carving Championships, held each year in Ocean City, Md. He is a nine-time International Wildfowl Carvers Association national champion. His wildfowl carvings are prized by collectors throughout the United States and Canada, and several of his award-winning creations reside in the permanent collection of the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury, Md. Tom is a highly respected instructor, author and world-level judge in support of the Ward Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2017 Tom was selected for the Ward Foundation’s national Living Legend Award. The award recognizes individuals who have been long-time advocates for wildfowl art and the Ward Museum; are generous in spirit and commitment to teaching others and passing on their knowledge, skills, and talents; and have created an impact on the field of wildfowl art and/or the Ward World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition. Tom lives with his wife, Carmen, in northeast Iowa, where he is president of a manufacturing company. They have three grown children and they have all pursued successful careers in the creative arts.