When Gary Barker was in eighth grade, an art teacher, Ms. Shirley Webb, encouraged him to enter the Indianapolis Art Festival where he won first place.
"She was an amazing painter and really pushed me to get in to art," Barker said. "At the time I won the festival, I thought, 'Man, I could really do this for a living.'"
After 19 years of working with Jim Davis helping to create Davis' daily "Garfield" comic strip, Barker, an Indiana native, has now decided to leave the Paws studio to pursue a career in teaching arts in Florida.
"My job is to pencil the comic strips," Barker said. "Jim is still very involved with the strip; he still writes." Barker said he will continue to work for Davis' Albany-based Paws studio while in pursuit of a teaching position in Florida. The only facet of his job that will change is location. Barker said he will still perform the daily functions of the strip, but all communication with Davis will now have to take place over the Internet, telephone and fax machine. "I think 'Garfield' would rather me stay here because it will require more work from him, but then he's also said, 'Go for it,'" Barker joked. Though Barker said he'll miss the environment at Paws, he said it's time to migrate south. "That way if I fall apart, I'm already in Florida," Barker said. Education and literacy is very important to the 50 plus employees at Paws. Because of that, Barker said Davis has encouraged him in this career goal. "Never once have I felt unappreciated," Barker said. "I have always had that feeling of respect." In the 26 years Barker has been in the animation business, his hope is to offer cartooning into the curriculum. "Hopefully I've learned something worth passing on," Barker said. "I want my legacy to inspire the generations." Currently, Barker is preparing a portfolio to send to various art school in the St. Petersburg, Fla. area. On Friday, Barker was invited to guest teach in the classroom of Terry Wiedmer, associate professor in the Department of Educational Studies. During his time at Ball State Friday, Barker spoke to the nine students at the studio classroom in Ball Communications, as well as those in the distance learning lab and 29 other students at 21 remote sites across Indiana. The class primarily consisted of students returning to the college classroom to gain added knowledge to use at the elementary and secondary level. Penny Alexander, computer applications teacher at Muncie Southside High School, is pursuing a degree in education administration. "I think he would be great (in education) because of the experience he has going in to teaching," Alexander said. While entertaining the class by drawing caricatures of various students, including Alexander, he also answered questions about "Garfield," his switch to teaching and his views on the arts in education. Curt Swan, the comic icon most closely associated with Superman, was Barker's biggest inspiration. Barker said he originally wanted to draw comic books for a living. After experimenting with comic books while working at Paws, Barker saw how much work goes into simply one page of book, and so decided to stay with the strip. "Comic books are so intensified; strips are more laid back," Barker said. Barker said the "Garfield" cartoon strip is designed to be a politically free strip. He also said the character of Garfield is everything we're not supposed to be. "Over the years we've become really sympathetic with the character," Barker said. Jon, Barker's favorite character, plays the role of Garfield's lonely owner. In his workshop studio at Paws, Barker has sketches of Jon sporting different looks posted around his work station. Barker said although he was not in active pursuit of a career in education, it has been a lifetime goal to feel that he has something to say to students. "The biggest problem is not getting across to students," Barker said. "But in hindsight, I know that teachers are getting through. It's sinking in." Barker also stressed the importance of being versatile in order to make ends met. "If you want to do comics, that's great, but be versatile. Maybe do caricatures; it's not fun, but it pays the rent," Barker said. "I want to prepare them for reality, not everyone will make it." Students in the distance learning class focused their questions on encouraging elementary and secondary students to find what motivates them to learn. Barker said comic books were his first love. "I learned to draw, and I learned to read because of the comic books I read," Barker said. Barker said it is important that teachers encourage students to do what inspires them the most, and not to discourage reading comic books. "The corner stone of society is the arts: music, literature, etc." Barker said. "It's really sad to see a school that cut the arts program; I think it needs to be a concern with others."
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