Robert A. Hitzig:
Wood is art.
Robert is a self-taught artist who developed his woodworking skills while constructing furniture as a hobbyist. As his work progressed, he became more and more focused on accentuating the natural beauty of the wood, emphasizing the grain patterns and figure. Slowly, he realized that the furniture distracted from the beauty of wood and that by creating non-functional pieces he could express what attracted him to working with wood.
Robert arrived at his path of fine art through a circuitous route. Although he has always enjoyed studying art, his last art class was in the eighth grade. His education was focused more on the sciences. Robert has an undergraduate degree in Geology and History from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and a graduate degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Following graduate school, Robert spent three years working in West Africa, Senegal and Benin, as an agro-forester/forester with the Peace Corps. After returning to the United States, he worked for ten years with the Environmental Protection Agency in their Underground Storage Tank and Superfund divisions in Washington, DC.
Resume
Exhibits
May 2009 Baltimore Fine Furnishings and Fine Craft Show, Baltimore, MD
August 2008 Vermont Artisan Design and Gallery 2, Brattleboro, VT
September through December 2007 Burlington International Airport, Burlington, VT
October 2007 Providence Fine Furnishings and Fine Crafts Show, Providence, RI
October 2006 Providence Fine Furnishings and Fine Crafts Show, Providence, RI
November 2005 to January 2010 The Lazy Pear Gallery, Montpelier,VT.
Juried Shows
May 2010, Paradise City Arts Festival, Philadelphia, MA
April 2010, CraftBoston, Boston, MA
March 2010, Paradise City Arts Festival, Marlborough, MA
October 2009, Paradise City Arts Festival, Northampton, MA
September 2009, Art Hop, Burlington, VT
May 2009, Paradise City Arts Festival, Northampton, MA
June to October 2008, Montpelier SculptCycle 2008, Montpelier, VT
June 2008 Art's Alive, Bulington, VT
August 2007 Paint the Gallery Red, Studio Place Arts, Barre, VT
September 2006 Art in the Round Barn, Waitsfield, VT
September 2006 Art Hop, Burlington, VT
June 2006 Art's Alive, Burlington, VT
Collections
October 2008, Dog Walker, City of Newburyport, MA
Awards
September 2009, Art Hop, Burlington, VT
1st Place, Juried by Sarah Chaffee, Director, McGowan Fine Art, Concord, NH
October 2008, Volunteer of the Year for work in organizing Montpelier SculptCycle 2008 and Montpelier Art Walks, Green Mountain Awards presented by Vermont Division for Historic Preservation
Education
1986 BA Geology and History, Miami University (Oxford, OH)
1988 MSPH Environmental Sciences, University of North Carolina
(Chapel Hill)
Work Experience
1989 to 1992 Forester, US Peace Corps (Senegal and Benin, West Africa)
1994 to 1998 Environmental Scientist, US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Washington, DC
1998 to 2004 Environmental Scientist, US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (Superfund), Washington, DC
2005 to 2010 Co-owner and curator of The Lazy Pear Gallery, Montpelier, VT
Copyright(c) 2009 Robert Hitzig. All rights reserved.