George Butler
His accent isn’t the only thing that makes George Butler stand out on campus. The 23-year-old Coventry, (Warwickshire) England native has phenomenal artist talent that has garnered him numerous recognitions and awards.
Butler studied at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London before stumbling across a comical YouTube video of Southern Arkansas University featuring the President’s Ambassadors and the Mulerider Express (the limousine golf cart that transports visitors during tours of the campus.)
Butler started communicating with a couple of the ambassadors, sparking his desire to learn more about the university. Now, the junior studio art major is a President’s Ambassador himself, which frequently puts him behind the wheel of the Mulerider Express that started it all. He loves showing the campus to visitors.
“It was the best decision of my life,” he said. “It’s easy to get involved in campus activities. They gave me my very own art studio, which is something I never had in London.”
As for that impressive list of awards, Butler earned his first at the age of three when his teacher noticed a remarkable talent and entered his “Mommy With Lipstick” painting into a competition.
“I carried on from there,” he said.
His original work “Puppet on a String” landed him his favorite and most prestigious award from a competition sponsored by the Children’s Commissioner of London. His work was chosen out of thousands of entries.
Inspired by the master Leonardo daVinci, Butler enjoys a variety of classes, but admits that his favorite is art history.
“We have great facilities – a room dedicated to printmaking and a studio for ceramics,” he said. “It really makes it great. I love it.”
