Bill Narum

Born in 1947, Bill Narum created an amazing life’s work, before passing in 2009.  In the late 1960s he co-founded the Houston, Texas FM rock and roll radio station KLOL and worked as art director for Space City News, an underground newspaper.  He also worked with KPFT-FM, the Pacifica radio station in Houston, and was a founder of Space City Video. In the 1970s a friendship with guitarist Billy Gibbons led him to become the house artist for rock band ZZ Top, designing posters, album covers, and stage sets.  Narum also provided murals for ZZ Top's fleet of semis.

Narum created concert posters for many artists including Captain Beefheart, Ravi Shankar and Humble Pie.  Music venues in Austin such as the Armadillo World Headquarters and Continental Club also used Narum's posters to promote their monthly slate of acts.  In 1993 he was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Austin.

Narum later went on to work for the computer game development company Origin Systems, followed by the opening his own game development company, Go-Go Studios in Austin in the mid-1990s, where he acted as art director and CEO.

In 2005 he was elected president of the South Austin Popular Culture Center.  A retrospect of Narum's work was the subject of a 2005 art show at the museum, titled “You Call That Art.”

Narum died on November 18, 2009 at his home in Austin, while sitting at his art table.