About Mark Carey Award-Winning Artist, Multimedia Specialist, and Creative Innovator

Mark Carey’s journey as an artist began at the age of six, when he first discovered a passion for drawing and creating. By age 11, he was already developing a strong work ethic, delivering newspapers and performing odd jobs for apartment complexes throughout the Chesapeake and Norfolk areas of Virginia. His dedication to both work and art paid off early, allowing him to begin earning income from his artwork by the age of 14.

At 16 and a half, Mark obtained his driver's permit and proudly drove a car that he had purchased, repaired, insured, and paid for entirely on his own. He soon secured an apprenticeship with a local sign company where he began refining the skills that would launch a lifelong creative career. By 17 and a half, he had successfully copied his first Rembrandt painting, demonstrating both technical talent and an appreciation for artistic mastery. By 1979, he was a journeyman sign painter, professionally crafting creative signage on his own.

In 1980, Mark accepted a position at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, joining a highly specialized media and training development team within the U.S. Navy. There, he immersed himself in every aspect of visual communication, cross-training in photography, writing, graphic design, both cell and 3D animation, multimedia production, and instructional development. This unique environment enabled him to sharpen his talents and become a highly accomplished artist, photographer, writer, multimedia specialist and training innovator.

Outside of his naval civil-service career, Mark continued to pursue creative projects that gained international recognition. By the age of 23, his artwork was being distributed around the world. In 1985, NASA saw Mark's work in an international art register and invited him to interview for a position at NASA Langley. Mark decided against the move, but did help NASA Langley learn how to do their own 3D animation production. Throughout his career, he earned numerous awards and honors, but among his proudest achievements was the creation of a groundbreaking, multi-level multimedia training program used throughout Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval Base Norfolk. The year-long training package received the prestigious OPSEC (Operational Security) Multimedia Award, the highest national honor for government and military security training programs. Many of Mark's training developments are still used today.

Mark's career has been defined by a determination to solve problems others considered impossible. Rather than accepting limitations, he consistently sought innovative solutions, combining artistic vision with technical ingenuity. That same mindset ultimately led him to pioneer a panoramic photographic process unlike anything available at the time. The culmination of that effort is VIRGINIA360—a monumental project that required nearly nine years of development, more than 14,000 hours of work, and countless experiments, setbacks, and breakthroughs. The result is a one-of-a-kind visual journey through Virginia that showcases Mark's perfected panoramic technique and his lifelong commitment to excellence in art, history, photography, and storytelling.

Today, VIRGINIA360 stands as the embodiment of a lifetime of creativity, perseverance, and innovation—a singular achievement in art, history, photography, and book publishing.