Artist Bio

Norman Ziolkowski grew up in Toledo, Ohio. His first aspiration in the arts came in 1967, when music and the piano ignited his passion. Over the next fourteen years, he pursued a career as a musician, and, studying part time, he completed a bachelor of music degree in jazz performance. Four years later, however, rheumatoid arthritis in his wrists ended his ambition as a pianist.

In the years following, he continued to support himself by his fall-back trade (industrial wood pattern making) until a diminishing job market and worsening arthritis caused him to seek a non-manual means of employment. For the latter part of his pre-art career, he worked as CAD technician.

Recently, further arthritic damage compelled him to seek help, and subsequent surgery on both wrists restored his ability to work with his hands.

Visual art first caught his attention in college, and afterward it continued to interest him greatly. Often, while shaping and assembling wood patterns, he envisioned one day using his skills to make sculpture.

Reconstructive surgery has enabled him to pursue his new passion. Although he has no formal training in visual art, he considers his education highly relevant. His artistic sensitivity acquired through years of studying music, and his professionally proven woodworking skills, have both equipped him for creating sculpture.

His work has been exhibited in such notable establishments as the Butler Institute of American Art and the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. He now lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana.