Peter Charles was born in Washington, D.C., grew up and lived in the metropolitan area until he graduated from the U.S. Capitol Page School. He was a head page in the United States Senate for two years. He earned degrees in Studio Art at the Rhode Island School of Design where he entered the Painting Program, ultimately took up Sculpture, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree. He attended the Yale University School of Art and Architecture where he received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Sculpture. Charles now teaches Sculpture and Design at Georgetown University.

Charles has exhibited his sculpture, drawings and mixed media works at numerous public venues and private galleries. He has mounted solo exhibitions of his work in galleries and museums throughout the United States: at The Phillips Collection, Henri Gallery, Baumgartner Gallery, David Adamson Gallery, Anton Gallery, The Ralls Collection and Irvine Contemporary Art in Washington, D.C.; Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), Winston-Salem, NC; Huntington Museum, Huntington, WV; Zolla-Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, Il; the Touchstone Gallery, the Ruth Siegel Gallery, Kim Foster Gallery and the David Findlay Gallery in New York, NY; and at the Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.
In addition, he has participated in many group exhibitions at, among others; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Institute of Contemporary Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY.
Mr. Charles is a recipient of a Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) Awards in the Visual Arts, Individual Artist’s Grant and a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Visual Arts Fellowship Grant.