Mark Priest, M.F.A.

Over the past ten years the railroad workers have been an ongoing theme in Professor Priest's work. The scenes have been a compilation of narratives depicting his firsthand experiences as a track repairman. They depict the dangerous, backbreaking business of actually building and repairing the rails. The work done today in many respects has changed very little from the early 1900's for the track laborer. There are many new machines taking the place of manpower. Yet for those who remain it is still very demanding. All the works of this series stem from drawings created from memory. Forever etched in his memory is an infinite number of untold stories about the men who toiled beside him on the railroad. This wealth of personal experiences and technical information has become the narrative for over 100 works.