Meet the Artist: Rafael Scott Fuhriman

Painting Leo Burnett

Ask Scott why he makes art and you'll get a refreshingly simple answer: because he can, because it's fun, and because other people seem to enjoy it.

No grand theory. Just someone who likes making things, and likes that other people like them too.

When he's not making art, Scott is with his family. His idea of a good night is his wife, his kids, and a movie.. all at once if he can swing it.

For Builders + Titans, he's painting Leo Burnett.

Burnett opened his own advertising agency in Chicago in 1935, right in the middle of the Great Depression. People joked he'd be selling apples on the street corner before long, so he put a bowl of apples in the lobby. The apples became a tradition.

So did his characters. Burnett's agency gave us Tony the Tiger, the Jolly Green Giant, the Pillsbury Doughboy, and the Keebler elves. He believed the best ads found the drama that was already sitting inside a product, and made you feel something about it.

A guy who makes art for the fun of it, painting the guy who made cereal boxes fun. Seems about right.

One more thing you might not know about Scott: he loves sardines. Burnett never got around to giving those a mascot.

Builders + Titans is Part 3 of Influencers Over Time, a five-part exhibition inspired by TIME's 100 most influential people of the 20th century. 18 local Utah artists. 20 portraits of the people who shaped the modern world we live inside every day. Every portrait comes with its own audio story, and there are treats to grab as you wander.

🗓️ October 23–25

📍 The Studio, 4750 W 800 N, West Point, Utah

Admission is free!