Born in Oklahoma, Charles Pebworth was a member of the Choctaw tribe and served in WWII as a part of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Pebworth taught at Sam Houston State University from 1957 to 1993, where he started out as a painting professor, then went on to teach sculpture and ceramics. As a long-time member of the faculty, Pebworth helped to establish one of the strongest sculpture departments in the state of Texas. Well known for his sculptures in wood, during his time at Sam Houston State he also experimented with creating sculptures out of metal. In 1964 Pebworth was introduced to metal casting at a conference in Kansas and made his first furnace from an old vacuum cleaner. He also has pieces in marble from the same quarry in Italy that Michelangelo used. Pebworth’s works express his feelings about his Native American heritage, a personal interest on mysticism and spirituality, and the technological advances of the present. He holds a BFA degree from the University of Houston and a MFA in sculpture from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.