Bertoia Studio 

Sculptor in Metal, Val Bertoia, studied engineering at Indiana Institute of Technology before apprenticing in Sculpture with his father for 6 years at Bertoia Studio.  Designing Chairs for Knoll, Monoprints, Jewelry and Bertoia Sculptures all came out of his original Bally, Pennsylvania, Bertoia Studio, and began in 1952.  By the 1960s, from models both small and monumental in welded sculptural forms were then created here.  In the 1960s, all genres continued to be made and the sound sculpting was discovered in 1968 using gongs and rod sounds.   In the 1970s, Val learned his craft well from his metalworking position alongside his father, iconic, masterful, Harry Bertoia.  Val's artwork continued after 1978, in the same Bertoia Studio.  His works are found in many private collections, institutions, galleries, auction houses, schools and businesses.   In the Barn, Val asks, 'Do you have a favorite?' and his answer is always the same, 'My favorite is people, because without people, the sculptures are meaningless.'  When he asked Melissa about etching his bronze sounding gongs, the rest became history.  Schedule a visit to meet the artists and discover a history in Bally, Pennsylvania, that Bertoia continues to establish.   

  

Studio Strawser 

Bertoia Jr. Dandelion gong print collaboration with Val began in 2017, after decades of sharing a studio space.  While starting these limited collectible artist proof editions in bronze gong prints, Val asked Melissa to etch his gong.  The experimental art began in etching sound with the automatic drawing techniques from working from the center outward.  Holding the continuous thread with a philosophy apropos to Bertoia.   The dandelion seeds bloomed where they were planted.   A limited collectible artist proof print of 1-4 are then hand-pulled as Monoprints.  Resounding and connecting you with the the Sculpture and Print.  These collaborations bring you more than one joyful variable in art 'nouveau pleasure.

Melissa Strawser holds a 1st Degree, MA Printmaking from Slade School of Art and Magna Cum Laude BFA from William Paterson University where she worked with her mother's art friend, poet and art critic, Dr. David Shapiro.  Melissa was awarded by a print residency in Evora, Portugal in 2010, and had several solos exhibits in Germany and Portugal. She completing a few large Sculpture commissions local to PA; and had many solo and group shows national, international.  Melissa learned from touching down with giants in Printmaking: Robert Blackburn, Bartolomeu cid dos Santos, Stanley Jones, Norman Ackroyd, Keith Howard, Ken Tyler, Warrington Colescott, Dan Welden, Bill Ritchie and Hartmut Berlinicke.