Fred T. Busk Fund
The Fred T. Busk Fund for the Arts supports artists of any medium in pursuing education, training, or opportunities to advance their careers, regardless of age.
TYPE OF FUND: Field of Interest
DATE ESTABLISHED: Initiated June 1991, Established September 22, 1996
PURPOSE: To enable an artist of any media to pursue education, training, or furtherance of their career opportunity. Age is not a factor.
DISTRIBUTION: Upon the recommendation by the Grants or Scholarship Committee and approval by the full Board of Directors of TCF.
VARIANCE POWER: If, in the judgment of the TCF Board of Directors, the restrictions and conditions of the fund become unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community, the TCF Board of Directors maintains the right to modify the terms of this fund.
FUNDING: Memorial donations by friends and family.
BACKGROUND: Fred T. Busk (1940–1991) of Davis, WV, died of a heart attack on May 27, 1991, at his home. He was married for 12 years to Dorothy Demboski, and they shared an extended family of his three children—Frederick, Marie, and Douglas Busk—and Sam, Sarah, and Anne Weatherford. Fred was a photographer, ski instructor, and co-founder of The Art Company of Davis.
Fred grew up in New England and Bermuda, graduated from The Groton School in Groton, Connecticut, and attended Middlebury College in Vermont. In 1976, he moved to West Virginia as the owner of Mountain Artisans, Inc. of Charleston, one of the country’s most successful ventures in the design and marketing of cottage industry needlecrafts, quilts, clothing, and home furnishings.
In 1978, Fred moved to Tucker County with Dorothy to pursue his dream of becoming a photographer. He worked in the labs at the Maine Photographic Workshop in Rockport, Maine, for two summers, where he trained with many of the field’s most prominent photographers, including George Tice, Paul Caponigro, and Ernst Haas. There, he honed his black and white darkroom technique. He was selected by Lilo Raymond and the publisher of a series of guidebooks on country inns to provide photography for Country Inns of the Pacific Northwest and Country Inns of the Rocky Mountain States. His work appeared in the West Virginia Juried Exhibition and in national magazines such as Mid-Atlantic Country, Outside, Ski, and others. He was represented by the Peter Arnold Agency of New York City.
Because Fred loved teaching and sharing his passion for photography, he envisioned a series of workshops in Tucker County. In 1985 and 1986, he and Dorothy began a program called Alpine Visual Arts. Dorothy later wrote, “As with all dreams, they don’t always work out as fast or the way they were envisioned. With the formation in 1990 of The Art Company, the concept was beginning to come around again and pick up a broad base of support. It was beginning to look like his dream would happen. We were in the process of planning photography workshops when he died, and the intention is to continue his dream.”
Fred was also an avid skier and a longtime instructor at Canaan Valley Ski Area. “Here again, his love of the sport and teaching was contagious to the many students that he helped,” Dorothy added. “Fred’s life touched many people through his activities. He had a gift for making complicated things seem easy and even hilarious. His gift of humor enabled him to see the ridiculous and silly side of things, as well as the serious.”
