Growing up a block away from the Des Moines Art Center allowed me the luxury of immersing myself in the arts almost everyday. My earliest influences were the artists who graced the walls of the center, Hopper, Wood, Bresson, and Raushenberg to name a few. My largest influence and formal training occurred under photographer Archie Lieberman (Look 1952-9172, Time, Fortune, and others). Today, living blocks away from downtown Fort Myers, I find it aesthetically as well as philosophically pleasing to capture the interest of a subject or subjects which we may see everyday but which we unconsciously or otherwise choose to largely ignore, failing to take the time or effort to see something new about the world and ourselves in the process. It is my hope that with the use of unique, composition, and interesting perspective, the cumulative effect will allow you the viewer to see my interpretation, and a chance to see the subject, whatever it may be, new again. I have a strong blief that art is a universal language of communication that ties up regardless of culture and spoken language we can visually engage one another and learn something about the artist and ourselves. Seeing our world takes time, patience, and practice. Daniel J. Calvert
* 2009 Alliance for the Arts "New Artist of the Year"
* Naples Regional Medical Center Looking at Light Invitational, Naples Florida, July-August 2009
* Juror's Award Text in Art Big Arts Sanibel Florida March 4-31 2009
* Juror's Award Daas Gallery Pequeno Formato, Fort Myers, FL Dec 12 – Dec 29 2008
* Florida West Arts Inc Board Member
* 2005 Yamanashi International Art Festival Most Outstanding Award of Merit awarded by Governor Yamanashi Prefecture & Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Japan
* 2006 Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Calendar
* 2006 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon Blue Ribbon Prize