The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Four generations of metal sculptors have art on display
It all started in Collinwood’s New York Central Railroad yard.
That’s where Fred Schmidt put together his first tabletop sculpture.
“From what I understand, everybody laughed at him — and it,” said son Jerry. “But from there, he became a great sculptor.”
Evidence is all over Northeast Ohio and beyond, from a creation at University Hospitals’ Ireland Cancer Building in Mentor to a 22-foot sculpture at One Columbus Center.
“He has many, many pieces at University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic,” Jerry said. “I could go on and on.”
Before Fred succumbed to asbestiosis at age 65 in 2001, he passed on his passion to his son.
“Since I was a little kid, I was his right-hand man,” said Jerry, 58, who continues the artistry alongside his son, Tyler, and grandson Nathan. “He was my teacher. I was so fortunate to watch him and listen to him. He was an amazing poet, and his words came through his art.”
Metal sculptures from all four generations will
be on display for a month — starting Sept. 15 — at Stella’s Art Gallery in the Matchworks building in Mentor.
“I felt a connection to Jerry right away,” said Danielle Klein, gallery co-owner with mother Carol Pitts. “He is such a passionate and kind person. And being from a family of artists myself, I am able to relate to his story and energy.”
Meeting his Waterloo
With a name like Schmidt — derived from the German word for blacksmith or metal worker — it seems only natural that the family would be drawn to such a preoccupation.
Like many artists, some of the inspiration is born out of pain.
Fred had a metal-working shop in Mentor Headlands prior to his split with Jerry’s mother. The elder Schmidt’s pastime seemed to flourish following his move to a studio on Murray Hill in Little Italy in the early ’70s.
“That’s where he really found himself,” Jerry said, adding that his dad had left the railroads for Lubrizol by then.
At that time, Jerry was fighting his own demons.
“I was that punk out on the streets that the parents told their kid not to hang with,” he said. “I was a fullblown alcoholic and drug addict. … My art probably saved me from self-destructing.”
It was raising his 6-year-
old daughter, Andrea, that pushed him toward sobriety. He gives credit elsewhere for it coming to pass.
“I was very lucky that God was able to remove that compulsion from my life,” he said.
After several years of working as a welder for Cleveland’s Local 17, Jerry came into his own as an artist.
In 2002, He opened a studio called Waterloo 7 in Collinwood’s Waterloo Arts District and has become accomplished in his own right.
His pieces have popped up in places including the Hilton Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic and the Peter B. Lewis
Building at Case Western Reserve University.
“I never really claimed to be a full-fledged artist until two years ago,” he said. “I was raised to doubt myself and then, dealing with the Hilton projects, I didn’t have anybody to talk for me; I was able to talk for myself. It’s taken a lot of years for me to feel comfortable with myself.”
Art has proved an anodyne for this artist. Jerry calls it his drug of choice.
“It’s my melatonin and antidepressant, my psychologist and psychiatrist,” he said. “It’s a world of never being wrong, but the viewer is always right.”
Steeling themselves
It is his past, in part, that prompts Jerry to provide artisan opportunities to children in his Cleveland neighborhood.
He has obtained a few grants enabling him to share his wealth of welding knowledge. He works with the Euclid Adult Activities Center as well as the Positive Education Program for young people.
“It’s very important to me in my life today — they come here and I teach them to weld and sculpt — along with being able to teach my son and grandson, too,” he
said.
Tyler, 23, lives in Mentor with his daughter, Lea Marie, 2, whom Jerry helps to baby-sit. He also has followed in his father’s footsteps at Local 17, but spends a fair amount of time at Waterloo 7.
The two collaborate on indoor and outdoor sculptures for private collectors and corporations, creating large and small works in steel, stainless steel, aluminum and copper.
Jerry described his son as an “amazing iron worker and a beautiful young man.” He tries to leave him to his own pace as an artist.
“Tyler is in the same boat as I was when I was working with my father,” Jerry said. “For me, it took me a long time to be able to create. … When my father passed, it was like a valve that opened and this release of pressure from my system. I created when my father was alive, but I didn’t want to step on my father’s toes; I didn’t want to compete.”
You can tell a lot about their moods by their creations, Tyler said. From metal sculpting, he derives peace of mind.
He considers himself fortunate to shadow his father in the studio.
“I’ve learned a lot from him,” he said. “It’s a great experience being able to work with him and now my nephew.”
Eight-year-old Nathan — Andrea’s son — creates and sells his own pieces. He won an honorable mention in his age group at the Cleveland National Art Show in 2015.
“I started since I was 4,” said the sweet-natured boy. “(I like) welding, that I get to hold it and pull the trigger, and see the blue light.”
Jerry glows when discussing his grandson, whom he is raising.
“Nate, he’s a happy artist,” Jerry said. “I taught Nate how to create happy stuff, lots of color. … He sells (it) to people who come into the studio. They gravitate to these happy hearts. He’s probably sold 15 pieces.
“There’s people out there that own four generations of our art.”
For more information, visit schmidtsculpture.com.