James Croak

James Croak (born 1951) is a visual artist known for his work in conceptual figuration and sculpture. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1951, Croak showed musical talent at a young age and studied under Andrés Segovia, the renowned Spanish classical guitarist. He gave performances at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City when he was just sixteen. Croak pursued his education at the Ecumenical Institute in Chicago, studying philosophy, and simultaneously studied sculpture at the University of Illinois at Chicago, graduating in 1974. In 1976, he received a National Endowment for the Arts artist-in-residence grant and later moved his work to the abandoned Fire Station Number 23 in Los Angeles.