My Art
Curtis Pittman - Artist
My journey as a public artist has helped me discover that creativity is catapulted through strong collaborations with other talented individuals. Although portions of my job require the handling of a lot of stress, I have found comfort and happiness in the people that I trust. I have faith that my team can deliver the highest quality work available. Incredible skill, unique knowledge, perseverance, and hard work are the defining words of my project team. Our skills in creativity, project management, fabrication, and integrative technologies have formed the genesis of what my work is today.
I am passionately dedicated to improving the built environment for humanity through art. The uniqueness of “place” is defined by its physical, social, and cultural contexts. “Place” is what inspires me. Capturing a sites history, its rich traditions, and its surrounding context in the physical manifestation as a sculpture is where my expertise lies.
I am fascinated by nature. I have a great appreciation for the wholeness of nature and the harmony of its patterns. Much like nature, my work is comprised of individual structural elements working together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. I am inspired by mother earth, its creation, and “we” as its inhabitants. As a result of this obsession, the exceptional natural characteristics of the existing context have a strong influence in bringing my art to life.
My projects are designed to significantly contribute to the vitality of life and community. They are a permanent representation of the values and aspirations of the place of which they inhabit. Words such as innovation, curiosity, hope, and transformation are consistently used to describe my work. As stated above, my greatest reward in life is to create shared experiences that benefit humanity. Through these experiences my work fosters stronger communities by connecting people socially, spiritually, and intellectually.Professional Experience
My professional background in both art and architecture has influenced my desire to create work that is both meaningful and contextual. Upon graduating from Penn State University’s architecture program in 2004, I worked with architectural design teams on theaters, performing art centers, and healthcare projects in both NYC and Portland Oregon. I have also had few influential artistic mentors interspersed along the way: James Wines, Dennis Oppenheim, and lastly Ed Carpenter.
My journey with Ed began in 2011 when I was hired to work on his public art projects full-time. Ed’s practice as both international artist and businessman were a big influence in the decision-making process to pursue this challenging career path. In a (5) year span I collaborated with Ed on (7) six-figure public art projects from concept design through installation. My professional experience in working with Ed has been life changing.
In May 2016 I embarked on a career as a full-time professional artist. In this time, I have completed (6) public art projects, (5) of them six-figure commissions. Thus far, I have had success in large scale exterior work which has served as the foundation of personal discovery for me as an artist. My most recently completed works, titled “Bird of Paradise” (May 2021) and “Aspire” (November 2021) have included more advanced technologies than my previous installations. In both projects I collaborated with Creative Technologist, Nathan Jenkins.
Nathan’s passion for the built environment involves both art and innovation. He is highly skilled in bringing creative ideas to life by exploring the intersection between interactive technology and experiential environments. Our professional skill sets are well paired resulting in a synergistic artistic process. The expressive forms that I design and fabricate are made dynamic and evolving through Nathan’s mastery in kinetic, generative, and interactive technologies. The collaboration between Nathan and myself has proven that we are both determined to find new ways to bring people together and celebrate beauty through art and technology. We are in search of a future where our work marks the next level of achievement in public art. One where urban and architectural spaces are completely transformed into areas of excitement, joy, curiosity, and pleasure.