Orville Chatt

Orville was born in Tekamah, Nebraska. It was his Aunt Maime, herself a painter, who would encourage the young boy’s blooming artistic leanings.

At age 19 and living in a nation deeply embroiled in World War II, that young farm boy joined the U.S. Air Force and ended up stationed in the Philippines. He would eventually become the commander of a B-24 bomber.

He stayed in the Air Force until the end of the war and returned home, where his aunt encouraged him to pursue his artistic hopes at school. He enrolled at the Chicago Art Institute and earned his bachelor’s degree in fine arts. During this time, he also worked here and there as an interior decorator.

It also was a time when Chatt began dabbling with jewelry-making.

Chatt wrote, “Jewelry to me is a song or a poem to be worn. It should enhance the person wearing it both inside and out. Sometimes it’s mood music, sometimes a march.”

Chatt was influenced by a rebirth after the war of studio crafts and mixing ordinary, everyday objects with gemstones and precious metals. He would continue using a variety of unremarkable objects — shells, bits of pottery and his favorite, beads — to create his jewelry.

SOURCE - https://www.goskagit.com/entertainment/remembering-a-man-of-style/article_1f12e76f-bfea-5a29-a891-26656d02d2ce.html (Sept, 2025)