Career

After his MA, he moved from Iowa back to Fergus Falls and got a job as a sign painter, in which for 15 years Beck painted “commercial signs, store placards, and logos” [1]. At this time, Beck also held art classes for the local community. He continued to make personal work and submit them to art shows. Beck began to be commissioned for large scale projects for many places, including NDSU and the Otter Tail Power Company. Throughout his time, his paintings started to become more abstract, using inspiration from photographs he had taken. He eventually started to bore of his painting and quit oils when he felt he stagnated in his growth. During his time at UM, Beck continued to experiment with the simplicity and technique of woodcuts, and evolved his process, like slowly using more and more color in his prints. Occasionally, he would return to his oils to do landscapes near his home but continued to focus on his woodcuts. 

In 1960, Beck was hired as an art instructor at the new Fergus Falls Junior College (later M State-Fergus Falls). He never taught full time, working only two days a week along with night classes. He taught for 27 years at the college, teaching drawing and painting, and eventually an art appreciation course. “Beck focused much of his time Illustrating and demonstrating the way artists thought. His interest was in encouraging students to develop their own point of view and to learn to see” [1] . Along with teaching, he participated in Juried art shows and conducted workshops around the region.   

In 1970 he became involved deeply in the design for the Otter Tail County Museum. He created the design for the museums, creating simulated environments to tell the story of the county. In 1982 he started delving into his interest in decoy ducks. Beck began as just a collector but evolved into carving them himself, making abstracted versions. He retired from teaching in 1987 and fully devoted his time to his work. Beck occasionally did commercial work and continued his passion until he died.  

1. Sharpe, "Charles Beck : The Nature of an Artist"