Join us for the opening of the January artists of the month featuring Ken Griswa and Steve Croak at the Bay City Arts Center Friday 5-7. Great opportunity to meet the artists and neighbors and be surrounded by fantastic creations.
Welcome in the New Year at the Bay City Arts Center for a gallery reception featuring the work of two local artists, including metal sculptures by Kenneth Griswa and steampunk art by Steve Croak. This monthly event is free and open to the public.
Kenneth Griswa, a new resident to Bay City, Oregon, from Oakland, California, has been creating a diverse body of art work since 1996. Although his work ranges in many mediums, his copper sculpture has been the most notable achievement of his art career.
His unique, playful approach to crafting custom copper pieces for both private clients and public spaces, in both outdoor and indoor settings, has been the mainstay of his art career. From garden sculpture and fountains to custom kitchens, gates, fences, and beyond, his custom creations have gained much notoriety throughout the art and design community.
Kenneth Griswa and his artwork has been featured on HGTV’s ” Curb Appeal”, in the San Francisco Chronicle and other Bay Area newspapers, and in online publications promoting copper as a creative medium. His work is also part of the prestigious di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art in Napa, California. He has been a participating artist with the Headlands Center for Art in Marin, California, and a visiting teaching artist for a wide range of elementary, middle, and high schools in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
Over the past decade, his work in other mediums has bloomed to accommodate his many custom architectural works, ranging from iron and wood work (including driftwood), chain saw carvings, found object sculpture, lamps and illuminated pieces, landscapes, to complete space remodeling and design installation.
Steve Croak is a unique and eccentric artist who lives in a world of steam and gears. Growing up, Steve always had a curious mind. He loved to learn how things worked and why they did what they did. He also loved creating art! He spent 34 years in the floral and events industry, where he created stunning floral arrangements and incredible parties and events. He also spent some time teaching a floral arrangement class for a college in Minnesota. Steve has always been drawn to hands on work. He loves to mold and shape any medium from wood and metal to paints and gears. If he has an imagine in his mind, he can make it a reality.
When he found steampunk it was like finding an old friend. Artistic sculptures of bygone era things done in modern steam technology. A vision of what could have been, brought to life through his eyes. Each piece Steve makes is a look into another world. One of airships and time travel. A place where anything is possible, if you just think outside the box. He uses his knowledge of machines and his vast imagination to create pieces that are truly one of a kind.
Steve has been busy the last couple years traveling the Pacific Northwest doing conventions and fairs. Most recently he had a booth at the Tillamook County Fair, where he sold out! If you would like to see a full gallery of his work, new and old, you can always visit his website, www.stevepunk.comIf you would like to see a full gallery of his work, new and old, you visit his website, www.stevepunk.com
To view the art galleries, you may attend the Gallery Open House Reception, an event or workshop at BCAC or email baycityartcenter@gmail.com to set up a time for viewing. For more information about our Artist of the Month program or to become a featured artist,
contact the BCAC office at (503) 377-9620 or email baycityartcenter@gmail.com
For more information about Bay City Arts Center, go to www.baycityartscenter.com