Marshall Harris • Biography • Atelier 2026 • Artist | Designer | Storyteller
MARSHALL K. HARRIS
Biography
Marshall K. Harris is a Fort Worth-based multidisciplinary artist whose life and career have traversed professional athletics, graphic design, museum and exhibition development, teaching, and fine art.
Harris earned his BFA in graphic design from Texas Christian University, where he was a four-year football letterman, four-time Academic All-Southwest Conference selection, and the Horned Frogs' Most Valuable Player his senior year. While still a student-athlete, he designed TCU's iconic Flying T, which represented the university's athletic programs for nearly two decades. Drafted by the New York Jets in 1979, Harris later played for the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and New Jersey Generals. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team in 1980 and inducted into the TCU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012.
Following professional football, Harris spent nearly three decades as an advertising art director, marketing manager, museum curator, graphic designer and exhibition designer. His work included exhibitions and educational installations for science museums, zoos and aquaria in the United States, Europe and Asia.
Experiencing the September 11 attacks firsthand in New York became a profound turning point. Harris subsequently earned an MFA in sculpture from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and returned to Fort Worth in 2010 to establish a full-time studio practice.
Although best known for his monumental, photorealistic graphite drawings on Mylar - particularly his portraits of historic Western saddles - Harris works across drawing, sculpture, photography, assemblage, video, installation and digital media. In 2013, his life-sized graphite drawing Round-Up: B.F. Smith & Son Saddlery, Circa 1940-1942 was selected from approximately 1,600 entries to receive the $50,000 Hunting Art Prize. He was the first Fort Worth artist to receive the award.
Harris has exhibited nationally, and his work is held in numerous corporate and private collections. His current practice investigates the relationships among life, loss and legacy: how we mark time, how time marks us, and what remains after we have passed through.
Awards:
Marshall Harris received the 2013 Hunting Art Prize for his graphite on Mylar portrait of a classic western parade show saddle titled “Round-Up”. The Hunting Art Prize was the largest artist award given for 2-dimensional art in North America.
Residencies:
Fort Works Art Gallery of Dreams Residency: Sept 2018—Sept 2019, Studio space and promotional events and activities.
Jon St.Clair Rising Star Residency: Oct 2019—Dec 2022, Studio space for 3 years;1-year renewals.
FACE/FR Resilience Residency and Mentorship Project: Sept 2021— Dec 2021. Artist residency and teaching position for three months in Saint-Denis, a community immediately adjacent to Paris, France. The residency provided a studio, apartment, and stipend while I taught two college classes and maintained a studio practice. In addition, the social engagement project involved local teens and an American-rules football organization called “The Flash,” in La Courneuve, FR. The project explored the resiliency practices required of the school children, their families, teachers, and coaches, and how different cultures evolved during the pandemic.
Marshall K. Harris
3815 Crestline Rd, Fort Worth, TX 76107
817-709-5444