The Rotary Club of Akron welcomed Don Drumm as our guest speaker during our Tuesday, September 1st Club meeting. It was a very informative presentation on the history of Don Drumm including his studio and career. Click here or below on the video to view the presentation.
After studying medicine for two years at Hiram College Don decided he was more of a visual person and decided to pursue a career in art and transferred to Kent State University where he received a B.F.A. and an M.A. He subsequently worked as a designer for the Industrial Design firm “Smith, Scherr and McDermott” for two years. Early in his career he was an artist in residence at Bowling Green University.
In 1960 Drumm opened his own studio, as a full-time practicing Sculptor and designer/craftsman near the University of Akron. In 1971, together with his wife, Lisa Drumm, he expanded the studio to incorporate a one-room gallery. Since then the enterprise has grown extensively and now embraces eight buildings, providing gallery facilities for over 500 artists and studio space for three resident artists. In addition to the 500 active artists with work on display at his studios, he has a data base of over 2000 artists that individuals can access if they are looking for a particular item.Don has been a pioneer in the use of cast aluminum (aluminum) as an artistic medium. In addition, he has been a pioneer in the use of contemporary building materials, and techniques for the creation of arts and crafts.
Don created a sculpture at Kent State University at the site of the May 4th Viet Nam protest between students and the National Guard.
During Don’s presentation he showed numerous pieces of art he has designed and exhibited. Several of those included sculptures at the Quaker Square Inn. In addition to the sculptures, Don has provided designs for residential customers. This technique involved the layering of different colors of cement. Drumm has worked on a wide range of public, commercial and private commissions in the USA and abroad.
Mr. Drumm explained there are three types of art: Abstract Art. Realism Art and Non-objective Art. Don has devoted most of his career in the area of Non-objective art which involves art that has no subject matter.
Don continues experimenting and constantly creating to this day. Drumm has won numerous awards along the way, including: Ohio Designer Crafts' “Lifetime Achievement Award”, “Outstanding Contributors of the Century”, to the Akron community by the Beacon Journal Publishing Company, first recipient of the Outstanding Visual Artist Award from the Akron Area Arts Alliance in 2000, and the first recipient of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) “Artist and Craftsman Excellence” award.
If you are interested in viewing some of Mr. Drumm and the other 500 artists creations, I encourage you to visit his studios at 457 Crouse Street, Akron, OH.
