UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 29, Page 1
April 30, 1992
Cartooning custodian uses pen and ink to make a point

     There's a lot more to Chet Javorsky than meets the eye. He's a
custodian in Gilbert E; he's an artist, and he's a cartoonist with a
wry sense of humor. Now, he's also a public speaker.
     Javorsky was a featured at the first annual Housing and Residence
Life Custodial Conference held earlier this month on campus.
Initially, he was asked to present a half hour of "comic relief" after
lunch, but his research and proposal for the presentation so impressed
conference organizers that they asked him to deliver it twice-at a
morning and an afternoon session on "Humor In The Workplace."
     For the presentation, he not only spoke about humor but made
cartoon sketches of audience members as he talked.
     "I'm not one to get up and speak in front of people and I was
nervous," Javorsky said, "but people seemed to like it and the
evaluations were okay. It's something I'd like to expand and do
again."
     The featured character in Javorsky's "Custodial Comics" is Bart,
a bearded, bespectacled man, not unlike his creator.
     "I first drew Bart in l976, and at that time called him Bart of
the Arts. I was working as an artist and Bart was another way for me
to put ideas down. Using a cartoon character was another way to
express things.
     "For example, one time Bart was working as a sculptor and wanted
to make something out of aluminum. He couldn't afford much, so he had
to drink a lot of beer to get recycled aluminum. Recycling wasn't a
popular theory then so that really amuses me now.
     "Bart came back around l980, when I was working at Napa Valley
(California) Community College. I was president of the union and shop
steward. After I cleared it with personnel, I used Bart to approach
some of our problems through cartoon characters. For instance, our
garbage truck was putting out a lot of pollution and I did a cartoon
about it featuring Bart. The cartoon got circulated and, a few months
later, someone found the money to get us a new garbage truck.
     "Later, I used Bart when we became involved in an equity study of
comparable worth."
     Bart's current friends, featured in the comics, are based on
Javorsky's co-workers in Gilbert.
     "We had some pictures taken at a party and I used them to make
sketches," he said. "I give the characters different names, and most
people seen to like it.
     "Humor is a way of drawing people together. It's non-threatening
as long as you are aware of how to handle it. You can take humor and
touch on some real important issues and get people to open up.
     "I thought about putting the president of the University in one
of my cartoons (for the conference), but I didn't have a picture of
him to go by. The guy who took my picture the day of the conference
said he'd get me one. It would be interesting to follow the
conversation between the University president and a custodian."
     Javorsky was born in West Virginia but his family moved to
Delaware when he was 4 years old. He graduated from Conrad High School
and attended the University from 1967-68.
     He moved to California in 1968 and ended up living there for 23
years. He earned a bachelor's degree in art from what is now the
University of California at Sonoma (then Sonoma State College), and he
has 12 credits toward his master's degree.
     "I did the art thing for 10 years in California, exhibiting at
fairs and galleries. I paint mostly landscapes and portraits in
acrylics, but it was poverty city and I ended up doing all sorts of
odd jobs, like working on a turkey ranch and roofing.
     "I always worked to support my art, and I always went for
non-political jobs where my mind could be free to think while I
worked."
     From 1981 to 1991, Javorsky worked at Napa Valley Community
College as a custodian and part-time instructor teaching janitorial
training to handicapped students. While there, he also earned a
certificate in gourmet cooking.
     Toward the end of 1990, Javorsky's wife died and his grown
daughter made plans to move to Florida. He decided to return to
Delaware, to be near his mother and brothers. He left all but 12 of
his paintings behind with friends.
     Following the relocation he has been taking things slowly,
finding a place to live, buying a car. He hopes to resume working in
pen and ink and, soon maybe in charcoal. While he works mostly alone
in Gilbert E, he enjoys the comraderie of co-workers at break time.
     "There's a good mix of people here. It's a better atmosphere than
in California. It felt good to come to work in this place."
     -Beth Thomas