Hobart Brown
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Hobart Ray Brown, b. February 27, 1933 is an American sculptor.
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[edit] Early years
Hobart Brown was born in Hess, Oklahoma to a fifteen-year-old mother who migrated across country to California on the back of her husband's motorcycle. Hobart describes it as his classic Okie experience, mirroring the great migration so poignantly captured in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and other stories of the Dust Bowl years.
Hobart went to high school in Los Angeles a couple of classes after Marilyn Monroe, whom he remembers by her real name and describes as "a quiet, plain little thing - not at all what she became later."
[edit] Adult life
After a stint as an airplane mechanic, where he learned welding, and time spent running hot rods with his friends on local empty roads, he decided in 1959 to become an artist and moved to Humboldt County, California. Arriving in 1962, he immediately opened the first of several Hobart Galleries; the first in Eureka, California, others in Trinidad and finally Ferndale, California.
Over the years, the Hobart Galleries has represented more than 150 local artists - launching several careers and providing much needed exposure to younger artists by adding them to an established stable of better-known names.
Hobart was instrumental in helping Morris Graves settle in his beautiful home nestled in the hills outside Loleta, California and in helping many younger artists including Duane Flatmo get started.
Hobart's Ferndale studio includes the current gallery as well as his residence and museum. During northern hemisphere winter, Hobart migrates to Australia where he is artist-in-residence, at the Leeuwin Estate Winery, Margaret River, Western Australia.
[edit] Kinetic Sculpture Races
In 1969, Hobart started the Kinetic sculpture race, almost by accident when he modified his son's tricycle to a Pentacycle and another local artist and gallery owner, Jack Mays, challenged him to a race down Main Street on Mother's Day. Raceday came, so did eight other challengers. Neither Hobart nor Jack won the race, that honor goes to Bob Brown (no relation) piloting his Kinetic Turtle.
The races continue. 2006 will be the 38th running - although the race is no longer just down the street. It now is the longest human powered sculpture race in the world. The course covers approximately 42 miles of sand, water, pavement, hills, more water , roads and freeways from Arcata to Ferndale.
Meanwhile, Hobart continued to sculpt and start other races. About ten Kinetic Races occur every year, from Baltimore to Western Australia, the spirit of "Adults having fun so children want to get older" infects individuals everywhere it lands.
His later years have been spent battling a disfiguring and crippling rheumatoid arthritis, while his spirit - and creative energies - remain undiminished. He continues his twice yearly peregrinations from north to south in search of the warmest, driest times of the year.
[edit] Exhibits, Collectors and Awards
A few of Hobart's many exhibits have included: White House and Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C.; the Ronald Reagan Museum, BC Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA; LA City Museum; Palm Springs Museum; Leeuwin Estates, Australia; and the Oscar Meyer Museum.
Hobart's collectors include President Ronald Reagan, Johnny Carson, Congressman Don Clausen, LA City Museum, U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, Riverboat Casino Las Vegas, California Department of Transportation, the College of the Redwoods and more than 500 individuals and companies.
Hobart created the Republican Party Perpetual Trophy by commission from the Party.
Over the years, Hobart has received many awards including being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, listings in Who's Who Worldwide, being made an honorary Rotarian and annual proclamations from both the Eureka and Arcata City Councils.
Not unsurprising for such a tireless showman and local booster, Hobart's been covered by a full range of media including:
- Television - ABC, CBS, CNN, Disney, NBC Today Show, Nickelodeon, Weird Houses and Weird Wheels, Game Show Network, and more.
- Movies - "It will Have Blinking Eyes" an award-winning documentary about the Kinetic Sculpture Race by China Blue films shown at the Sundance Film Festival.
- Print - National Geographic World, Popular Mechanics, San Francisco Chronicle, Smithsonian Magazine, The Times of London, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Melbourn Australia Age, Perth Australia Time, Eureka Times-Standard, Arcata Eye, North Coast Journal, Humboldt Independent and Eureka Reporter.
- Radio - broadcaster for six years and many interviews since.
- Publications : Hobart Tells All - a guide to Kinetic Sculpture Racing and its underlying philosophy
- Hobart's Guide to Life - in press.
- Author and co-author of numerous articles in newspapers and local journals.
