http://www.weitzmanstudios.com/
About the Artist
Steven Weitzman founded Weitzman Studios, Inc. in 1995 as the entity to handle the number of commissions he was being awarded for site-specific large scale public art installations as well as a site to display the vast array of multi-disciplined artwork from his personal portfolio. Since that time he has created dozens of projects including outdoor urban environments, commemorative and figurative sculptures, as well as major highway and bridge designs and subsequent form liner fabrication for the many national highway projects for many state and municipal Departments of Transportation.
In 1998, he founded Creative Design Resolutions, Inc. (CDR) to address the aesthetic needs of highway infrastructure and urban development projects. Shortly after that, he also established Creative Form Liners, Inc. (CFL), a leading manufacturer of custom elastomeric rubber and fiberglass form liners and FŌTERA®, full colored structural concrete and resinous terrazzo.
Integrated environments that encourage viewer participation and community involvement have been the focus of Steven’s career since 1971. He began a successful professional career as a freelance illustrator and painter, and received numerous art and design awards for his graphic designs. Quickly his work expanded to include fine art and large-scale public art installations, and throughout the 1980′s sculpture dominated his artwork. In 1985, Weitzman garnered wide international recognition when he created a sculpture on the grounds of the United Nations, in New York City. This sculpture was dedicated for the United Nations’ Fortieth Anniversary Celebration.
In 1989, the Smithsonian Institution’s non-profit partner, Friends of the National Zoo, commissioned Steven to create a 30′ sculpture for the entrance to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. This hand-carved sculpture was crafted from a 30-foot-tall white oak and was commissioned as a tribute to the many volunteers that have helped contribute to the zoo over the years. An estimated four million people observed the artist at work during the two years it took to carve the white oak.
Steven’s interest in large scale infrastructure aesthetic projects fully emerged during the latter part of the 1990s when he founded Creative Design Resolutions, Inc. with a highway and urban infrastructure design focus and then formed Creative Form Liners, Inc. to fabricate these infrastructure projects. It was during this period that Steven’s artwork took on an increasingly monumental scale. For example, his stunning installation along Interstate 54, spans over four miles of highway and is cast two foot thick, solid structural concrete; across the country, his bridge design enhancements have won numerous industry awards, and, recently, Steven’s heroic-size bronze sculpture of Frederick Douglass was approved for permanent installation in the United States Capitol sometime in 2013-2014. This sculpture, was commissioned by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the installation was approved by both houses of Congress and the President of the United States. “Chesapeake Journey,” a project created in 2008 out of FŌTERA® structural concrete, covers 1,618 square feet and serves as a pedestrian belvedere overlooking the marina at the new $4B National Harbor Development near Washington, D.C. across the Potomac River. Honored in 2012 with the “Art Special Award” by the National Terrazzo and Mosaic Assn, “The Great Map of Colorado” is a 2,182 square foot FŌTERA® resinous terrazzo mural covering the floor of the Great Hall of the new History Colorado Center.
Weitzman invented FŌTERA® structural concrete in 1988. Since then the medium is slowly becoming the most sought after product for full color in structural concrete. Commonly used to integrate aesthetics into the architecture of an environment, the FŌTERA® product is structural concrete or resinous terrazzo produced from a unique process to cast any image or design in full color. What also makes this process distinctive is that it does not require the use of metal edging between color fields, like traditional terrazzo. As a result, FŌTERA® gives Weitzman greater artistic flexibility allowing him to create either gentle gradations of color and hue or the rigid color separations often seen in traditional terrazzo for outdoors or indoor installations.