Scholarships

Lynn Yates Gives the Chris Jamison Scholarship

We are so thrilled to announce the Chris Jamison Scholarship! We are very grateful to his daughter, Lynn Yates, who is generously providing the tuition for one student per semester to attend Fizer Fine Art classes. Chris mentored Jason from Jason’s childhood until Chris passed away in 2011. He was known in Roanoke (and beyond) for his excellent commercial and fine art. For a more complete biography on this fine man, please see what Lynn wrote below. 

Download an application 

Or email us at elizabeth@fizerart.com  

Applications for Fall 2024 are due by August 10. Please mail completed applications to Fizer Fine Art at 250 Preston Ave Roanoke, VA 24012.

Chris H. Jamison, Jr.

Born September 18, 1921, in Callaway, Virginia, Chris Jamison grew up in southeast Roanoke City and attended Jefferson High School.  The oldest of five siblings growing up during the Depression, he did not have many opportunities to explore his love of drawing and illustration. Nevertheless, he learned early on the values of hard work and determination, and he applied that energy to developing his craft, taking every opportunity to develop his love of drawing and illustration by avidly reading art books and magazines. He drew cartoons and quick landscapes as a child and quickly became known for his ability to draw and produce good art. During high school, his part-time job was painting “in reverse” the prices of food items on the large plate glass windows of A & P Grocery on the downtown Market Square.

After high school, he was drafted into the Army Air Force.  In WWII, he served in the Pacific theatre, as a flight engineer on B-24 bombers.

After the war, he attended Art Center School in Los Angeles, California on the “GI Bill” and there furthered his skill in unusual art techniques and his love of art design and illustration.  He returned to the Roanoke area to pursue a career in commercial art/advertising.  After working as a layout production artist, he was promoted to the position of Art Director at Houck Advertising, where he stayed until retirement.  Jamison often said he worked during the era of professional art, where the artist thought up the creative idea, produced the proposal, and finished the project in fine art. His later career progressed into the era of commercial art when the artist designs and draws the concept in illustration, and the final product is done on location with photography. Today the idea and finished layout are all accomplished by graphic artists on computers.  Mr. Jamison would have marveled at this quick and efficient technology in use today.

Mr. Jamison continued his education throughout life by studying under such masters as Daniel Greene, John Howard Sanden, and Raymond Kinsler. When he retired from a 30-year career in commercial art, he turned his attention to his love of fine art.  He opened his own freelance studio and concentrated on portrait art and other genres. He excelled in watercolor, pastel, casein, and oil, and migrated easily among landscapes, still lifes, illustration, and portraiture. He loved the use of light and shadow in his intricate paintings, and he was able to capture the detail of the story and highlight that focal point in his art.   He was very prolific and produced many works currently hanging in physician offices, churches, and residences both in Virginia and across the country.  He often said he was the luckiest man in the world because he never regretted going to work.  He loved what he did and enjoyed going to work each day.  He continued to enjoy his art until his final days.