By Amanda Purser
At 3 p.m. March 25, in the Academic Commons, Room 125, the Psychology Club and Psi Chi National Honor Society members had their monthly meeting. Faculty advisors, Dr. Casey Frye-Davies and Instructor Megan Culbert, addressed the agenda topics briefly, before introducing the guest speaker Robert Peterson.
Peterson, a contemporary artist and painter, is a Lawton local, having lived here on and off since 1993. A graduate of Lawton High School, Peterson raised his family here before eventually taking a job at Goodyear. An injury before a shift resulted in Peterson breaking his hip, which needed to be replaced and caused a lot of unexpected downtime for him.
While recovering, Peterson noticed a decline in his mental health and realized he needed to attempt a new hobby to stay busy.
“I had to figure out something to keep my mind occupied,” Peterson said. “I was depressed, money was affected, so I was like: I’m going to start drawing. That first drawing turned into a painting, and that first painting turned into my first show in New York.”
As his own harshest critic, Peterson looks back now thinking his early work was subpar for his abilities, but the quick sales and interest from art-enthusiasts, confirmed that he was on the right track. His career took off from there and Peterson became known for his style and authentic way he approaches painting skin color. He carefully highlights African American tones and takes care
to represent the moment and story behind each piece he crafts. His process consists of taking photos, then drawing or sketching the image, before painting one small section at a time, ensuring he gets every detail accurate before moving on.
Being new to business and art, he had to develop his own strategies for success. He leaned into social media and carved out a personalized marketing path for his work. Peterson handles nearly every facet of his art business on his own, embracing the entrepreneurial spirit and control he can have over his life and earning potential.
“I document, I draw, I photograph, I sketch, I pack, I ship and I show,” he said.
In early 2020, Peterson got a call from the United States Postal Service, confirming that they had watched his career unfold and admired his work, before offering him the opportunity to design his own postage stamp. The process took more than a year to come to fruition before they finalized the arrangements.
“I ended up getting commissioned by the United States Postal Service,” Peterson said. “I did a painting of Ernest Gaines, the author, and that stamp came out in 2023 in their Forever Collection.”
Peterson is the first African American artist from the state of Oklahoma to be commissioned for a U.S. stamp, and before that feat he was the first minority to win Artist of the Year for Southwest Oklahoma.
As a family man, Peterson puts his kids and wife at the forefront of his financial plans, and keeps their needs a priority as he executes his business endeavors. His career has continued to progress,
and he holds many impressive titles and achievements.
“I’m in nine major museums across the U.S., I am collected in over 27 countries — I just came off of a museum tour, and I am gearing up for the opening of a new summer show,” Peterson said. “New York’s Hudson River Museum of Art is doing a show of mine that opens up in June, and they’re going to honor me.”
Although he jokes that he doesn’t know why he is being honored, it’s clear that Peterson’s talent and artwork have a huge impact and continue to reach people across the globe. He stays very busy and enjoys traveling with his wife, as new projects arise, near and far from home.
A recent opportunity came from Anderson Bean which is a big name in boots, with a chance for Peterson to design a signature pair of western boots. This endeavor will take him to Kentucky where the boots are made, and then to Texas to see the store they will launch in.
Peterson’s story is one of inspiration and perseverance, taking an injury and low point in his life and turning it into an opportunity to find his calling. Though not an alumnus, Peterson does have a few ties to Cameron University. There are murals on the west side of Nance-Boyer Hall that he created in 2019, leaving his style on campus for all to see. The Robert and Marina Peterson Endowed Scholarship in Art was established in 2022, which helps minority art students with expenses throughout their degree plan.
Peterson pays it forward to the future artists of tomorrow, many of whom may be fellow Aggies and perhaps your new favorite artist one day.
“I went to Parsons in 2008, and during the recession I ended up having to drop out, because I
couldn’t afford to pay for classes,” Peterson said. “I didn’t qualify for scholarships or grants, so I felt like this was my way of giving back to the students who might be in the same position I was in. If this is something that lightens their load just a little bit, then I wanted to do my part, and this is something that is here for as long as Cameron is here.”