Steven Weitzman

Steven Weitzman standing with his Frederick Douglass statue in the Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Visitor Center.

Steven Weitzman[1] is an American artist based in Maryland who is known for his large sculptures and outdoor design work. He has created many large-scale wood[2][3] and bronze sculptures,[4] has worked in stone[5] and terrazzo, designed urban parks and fountains and he has created artistic highway and bridge designs, some as large as three miles long.[6] In addition to these traditional mediums, Steven invented a process that allows him to 'paint' in with concrete like a poured mosaic using a material called FOTERA,[7] that allows him to create murals that can be incorporated in transportation projects.[8]

Steven Weitzman began as a graphic artist and painter. In 1998 he founded Creative Design Resolutions, Inc.[9] to address the aesthetic needs of highway infrastructure as his work expanded to projects of larger scale. Shortly after, he established Creative Form Liners, Inc.[10] as the leading fabricator of custom form liners and FOTERA structural concrete and resinous terrazzo. In 2016, Steven Weitzman was commissioned to design the Aesthetic Master Plan of the 11-mile interstate I-40 corridor starting from Oklahoma City, which includes numerous bridges and thousands of square feet of retaining walls, as well as the Aesthetic Master Plan for the I-35/I-240 interchange.Together these projects will include 46 retaining walls and ramps ranging from 200 to 4000 foot stretches. 25 new bridges will be built along with 3 bridges to be renovated, all designed in collaboration with the community. Steven Weitzman has received extensive coverage in regional and nation press through over 90 interviews, articles, reviews and awards. One bridge in particular designed in Arizona called “La Cholla” received 5 awards within six months of its completion.[11]

Most recently, Steven Weitzman created a heroic-sized bronze sculpture of former civil rights leader, Mayor Marion S. Barry, which was installed and dedicated in Washington D.C. outside of the John A. Wilson building on Pennsylvania Ave. This project quickly attracted national attention and coverage.[12] On June 19, 2013, Weitzman's sculpture of Frederick Douglass, a leader of the abolitionist movement,[13] was dedicated for permanent display in Emancipation Hall[14] in the United States Capitol building.[15][16]

Another example of his artwork is a gigantic map of Colorado incorporated into the floor of the Great Hall on display in the central atrium of the History Colorado Center museum[17] where he created 234 separate terrazzo paintings, each laid side-by-side to create a 2,183 sq. ft. topographical map[18] as seen from approximately four hundred miles in space.

A feature article was published in the spring 2015 issue of Aspire magazine about Creative Design Resolutions.Inc., ('CDR')[19] a company owned and managed by Steven Weitzman , this article takes an in-depth look at bridge design and the implementation of bridge and highway aesthetics in the master planning stages. It also tells about the importance of community involvement and their roll as one of the stake holders in these highway projects also their influence in the design process.[20]

Steven Weitzman has also been known for the infrastructure aesthetic designs on US 54 in Wichita, Kansas that has become one of the nation’s best and most frequently cited examples of the successful incorporation of public art into a Highway corridor.[21]

At the ceremony for the unveiling of the Fredrick Douglass statue created by Steven Weitzman, Vice President Joe Biden took the opportunity to pay tribute to 19th-century abolitionist and to renew the call for equal voting rights for people who live in the nation's capital.[22]

In 2009, Steven Weitzman and CDR designed and retrofitted multiple bridges in Norman, Oklahoma[23] for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Over the last 20 years, CDR has collaborated with numerous communities around the country and over a quartet of all the Departments of Transportation in the country to develop themes that contextually best represent that city/state's history, culture, natural environment, and aspirations.

Awards and Recognition:

  • 2018 Awarded for the Mayor Marion S. Barry Commemorative Sculpture project
  • 2016 Build USA Construction Excellence Award
  • 2015 Timothy M. Ahrens Partnering Award, Pima Association of Governments and the Regional Transportation Authority
  • 2015 Partnered Project of the Year (Ruby) – Transportation Projects Under $25M, International Partnering Institute
  • 2015 2015 Project of the Year for Transportation greater than $20M, Southern Arizona American Public Works Association
  • 2014 Arizona Transportation Partnering Excellence Award
  • 2014 Build Arizona Award, in the Public New Highway Construction, project over $10M
  • 2012 National Terrazzo and Mosaic Association "Art Special Award" for 2012
  • 2010 Oklahoma City Broadway Extension Reconstruction Project
  • 2008 The 18th Annual Pharaoh Award, The State of Oklahoma - Best single bridge constructed in the State of Oklahoma, showing exceptional quality and workmanship for Heritage Bridge
  • 2006 The 27th Annual AdWheel Awards, American Public Transportation Association - Grand Prize-Print category for “Miles of Practical Solutions” CDR Promotional Box
  • 2006 PCI Design Awards, Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute - Custom Design Award for Maryland 216
  • 2006 American Council of Engineering Companies - Public Improvement Award for City of Wichita, Kellogg/Oliver US 54 (“Time Passages”)
  • 2005 Prince George’s Beautification Committee - Public Art in Public Space Special Award for Largo Metro Access Improvements
  • 2001 NAIOP Awards, National Association of Industrial and Office Properties - Best High-rise Office Development in Maryland for Chase Towers
  • 2000 House of Representatives 124th General Assembly of Ohio - Special Recognition for Elijah Pierce
  • 2000 American Concrete Institute - Best Project over $3,000,000 for Kellogg/Oliver US 54 (“Time Passages”)
  • 2000 American Public Works Association, Kansas Chapter - Project of the Year, Transportation Projects over $10,000,000 for Kellogg/Oliver US 54 (“Time Passages”)

References

  1. ↑ http://www.weitzmanstudios.com/
  2. ↑ Judy Colbert (2007). Maryland and Delaware. Globe Pequot Press. pp. 154–. ISBN 978-0-7627-4418-3.
  3. ↑ Arbor Age. Arbor Age. 1986.
  4. ↑ "Steven Weitzman – artist as entrepreneur". cassone-art.com.
  5. ↑ Lawrence J. King (25 September 2010). What the Hell Were You Thinking?. Xlibris Corporation. pp. 98–. ISBN 978-1-4535-6069-3.
  6. ↑ Government news letter "Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs
  7. ↑ http://creativeformliners.com/fotera-concrete
  8. ↑ Staehle, Lauren. "Top 10 List of the Most Interesting People – Steven Weitzman: A lifetime of celebrating Washington, D.C. on canvas". www.dcspotlight.com. The DC Spotlight Newspaper. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ http://www.creativedesignresolutions.com/
  10. ↑ http://creativeformliners.com/
  11. ↑ https://www.webcms.pima.gov/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=202341
  12. ↑ Roberts, Roxanne (2018-02-01). "What happened when D.C. chose a white artist to create the official Marion Barry statue". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  13. ↑ Ana Lucia Araujo (7 August 2014). Shadows of the Slave Past: Memory, Heritage, and Slavery. Routledge. pp. 126–. ISBN 978-1-135-01197-0.
  14. ↑ "Frederick Douglass | Architect of the Capitol | United States Capitol". aoc.gov.
  15. ↑ Dick, Jason (22 May 2013). "Frederick Douglass Statue Set for Capitol Unveiling". ROLL CALL. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  16. ↑ "Sculptor's Bronze of Douglass Finds a Permanent Home". washingtoninformer.com.
  17. ↑ "History Colorado Center A State Looks at Itself in a New Mirror History Colorado Center Opened in Denver". New York Times By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN April 27, 2012
  18. ↑ history of colorado center
  19. ↑ http://www.creativedesignresolutions.com/
  20. ↑ "Aesthetic Master Planning more than pretty bridges"http://www.aspiremagazinebyengineers.com/i/485551-spring-2015
  21. ↑ "Kellogg Avenue U.S. 54 Freeway Improvement project"http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MDOT_Appx_B2_Natl_Ex_Urban_Freeway_1-3_Kellogg_Ave_US-54_Fwy_160198_7.pdf
  22. ↑ "Valerie Bonk Associated Press" http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_23490855/capitols-frederick-douglass-statue-be-unveiled
  23. ↑ http://www.normantranscript.com/news/local_news/concrete-with-class/article_bec041b9-8675-5f72-ae83-46b90b2c2354.html
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