A designer, illustrator, painter, graphic artist, sculptor and writer, Paul Beem graduated at the John Herron Art School in Indianapolis, Indiana, and then in 1929, attended the The Art School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He graduated in 1930 and then went to live in Pasadena, California with a friend from the Chicago Art Institute. Beem refused a job at Disney Studios, preferring to paint landscapes in the mountains.

He exhibited in the 1930's and 40's at the John Herron Exhibition of Indiana Artists and the Hoosier Salon (Chicago and Indianapolis) and was the recipient of several awards. (Including the 1931 J. Irving Holcomb Award for Still Life Oil Painting.

In the 1940's, Paul Beem was Art Director for the W.E. Long Company of Chicago. He exhibited in this capacity at THE ART DIRECTORS CLUB OF CHICAGO

EXHIBITION ADVERTISING ART, receiving numerous awards for commercial art

through the years.

Beem married Thelma R. Sparks in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1938. He was also Orchestra Conductor for The Civic Theater of Indianapolis.

Source:

A 1929 catalogue of the Art Institute of Chicago plus handwritten remarks of the artist and his wife. Courtesy of Tom Shipley.