Murray Tinkelman

Murray Tinkelman is an award-winning illustrator who has utilized a variety of subjects to harness the essence of sport art, and he was honored by the American Sport Art Museum and Archives as its 1995 Sport Artist of the Year.

Displayed nationally and internationally, Tinkelman's artistic illustrations using the baseball card as his subject matter has earned him acclaim in the art and sport community. One of the outstanding accomplishments for Tinkelman came in 1995, when he participated with more than 150 renown illustrators and designers of the baseball card at an exhibit entitled, "The Artist and the Baseball Card." The show was attended by thousands at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York.

Tinkelman has utilized rodeo cowboys, American Indian dancers, Air Force personnel and motorcycle riders. In 1989, the self-proclaimed Brooklyn Dodger fan visited a baseball card shop and purchased a 1950 Pee Wee Reese baseball card for $80. After savoring the nostalgia, he found himself drawing a black-and-white, pen-and-ink rendering of his then-favorite New York Met, Darryl Strawberry. Fame quickly followed.

He drew more cards and the project blossomed due to the appreciation and participation of additional artists. His next step was to have the 8 ½ x 11 renderings autographed and framed. To invite other artists into the endeavor, Tinkelman offered to swap non-baseball drawings with other artists in return for their personal interpretations of baseball cards in any durable medium.

In addition to the baseball card project, Tinkelman has written and illustrated many adult and children's books. He has won Gold Medals from the Society of Illustrators, The New York Art Directors Club and The Society of Publication Designers. He has more than 200 awards of merit from The Society of Illustrators to his credit, and he is also a professor of illustration at Syracuse University.

Upon his selection as Sport Artist of the Year, Tinkelman was on-hand in the grand opening of an art exhibit at the Academy's Art Museum. The forty-six piece exhibit was open to the public and featured a collection of his most memorable and recognizable works in sport art.