As a child Art loved to paint. At age nine over one hundred of these early paintings were displayed in a one-person show in Oakland, California.

At the same time he studied value and figure drawing on weekends at California School of Arts and Crafts. Later at UC Berkeley he took classes in Oriental painting and drawing.

After attending Princeton theological Seminary and coaching Princeton University Crews to three national championships, Art spent the next 50 years serving as a Presbyterian minister, recently retiring as pastor Emeritus of the 2000 member Point Loma Community Presbyterian Church in San Diego.