Norman F. Carver Jr.

KALAMAZOO, MI -- Norman F. Carver Jr., a renowned architect, photographer and a fixture in the Kalamazoo arts community, died Friday, Nov. 16. He was 90.
A Kalamazoo native, Carver told the Kalamazoo Gazette in a 1993 interview that he knew at about age 14 that he wanted to become an architect.

"I had a job working with a couple of local architects, and they convinced me to go to architectural school,'' he said.

Carver graduated from Yale University in 1953 and won a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Japan.

He designed about 150 houses, both in the Kalamazoo area and in other parts of the country, according to a 2011 Kalamazoo Gazette story. He also designed the Western Michigan University housing complex near Stadium Drive and Howard Street.

Carver's parents, Norman Carver Sr. and Louise Carver, were among the founders of the Civic Players in 1929. Norman Carver Jr. would later design the Civic's Carver Center.
In his later years, Carver was known for exhibiting his photography from his travels around in galleries on the Kalamazoo Mall. He was a regular participant in monthly Art Hop events.

When he opened a gallery at 245 S. Kalamazoo Mall in 2011, after moving from 300 S. Kalamazoo Mall where he had been located for four years, Carver was preparing to publish his eighth book, "Angkor," about the ancient Cambodian city.

"It has been satisfying to document architecture around the world," Carver told the Gazette in the 2011 interview.

A gathering to celebrate Norman Carver’s legacy will be held on Friday, December 7, 2018 from 5-8 PM at the Carver Gallery, 240 South Kalamazoo Mall; Kalamazoo. Art-break talk: Remembering Norman Carver Jr. will be held at 12 Noon on Tuesday, December 11, 2018 at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 314 South Park Street; Kalamazoo. Arrangements by Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes; Kalamazoo (269) 375-2900.
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