About Us

 David "D.I." Roberts, the founder of Pigville Artworks began this venture while working as a Correctional Officer at San Quentin State Prison (1974-1978).  He and his brother, William "Bill" Roberts designed the original San Quentin belt buckle.  This buckle design was abandoned when Dave decided a more detailed buckle was needed to reflect the professionalism of the officers.   He worked with his step-brother, Bill Jarnagin, to design the  new buckle.  His step-brother also assisted him with the artwork and designs of both Folsom and Deuel Vocational Institute buckles.  After that, Dave went out on his own to design buckles for almost all of the other institutions throughout the State.   He submitted over 15 different designs to the Department for consideration as the official CDC buckle.  The current design was approved by the Department and included in the revised Departmental Operations Manual (DOM) as optional official uniform wear.  Both the CDC buckle and those approved by each facility's administration are the only optional buckles authorized for officers as part of their uniform.   Dave met with each institution's warden to obtain their input and approval of their facility's buckle design.

The name "Pigville Artworks" came about due to Dave's artistic ability in drawing humanistic styled pigs.  The money from the sale of buckles was originally intended to go toward development of his Pigville characters, however, this never materialized, and any money earned went into the design and production of additional buckles and matching lapel pins. One of his buckles made it's way to Georgia, where a new Nuclear Power plant was opening.  The management saw the buckle and immediately contacted Dave to produce two buckles for them, one using a winning employee design to be worn by their staff, and the other a design which would be used on buckles distributed to the community as a good will gesture.  He won the bid for these buckles and it was his largest single order.   His wife still has a display case holding one of each of the two buckles and a bronzed copy of the check he received for these buckles. Dave will always be remembered as "The Buckle Man".   He took pride in his work, and greatly enjoyed the camaraderie he enjoyed when he went to the various institutions selling the buckles and personalizing them with on-site engraving. Dave passed away early in the morning of February 27, 1998 when he suffered from cardiac arrest while driving himself and his wife, Alice, to work.   His memory lives on in his legacy of CDC belt buckles.