Marc Creates History

Artist and inventor Mark Weinstein of Saint Louis Missouri, established Marc Creates Inc. in 1967. Ten years prior, Mark was fresh out of High School and had just decided to go to work with his father who owned a scrap metal yard. His father's scrap yard soon became the catalyst for Weinstein's inventive art. (The scrap yard provided literally "tons" of inspiration).

Mark Weinstein always had an interest in art. Weinstein says he has always looked at things differently, trying to see designs and images in everyday objects. He remembers looking at books on nursery rhymes as a young child and seeing the space between the drawings and how they relate to each other as images. Weinstein said, "People look at a sign for a business and see letters. I look at the way the letters interact with each other and they form a picture for me. Where others might see words, I see symmetry, rhythm, and abstract shapes. I am always looking at shapes unconventionally, always analyzing the area around them. "

After Weinstein began working for his father at Federal Salvage and Supply in St. Louis in 1957, he had a hard time seeing the scrap metal as mere junk to be sold for weight. He found interesting shapes and designs everywhere he looked. Weinstein began experimenting with different welding techniques after learning the basics from a local handyman. Welding brought Weinstein's artistic abilities to the surface and by the early 1960s, he was transforming scrap metal into works of art.

Weinstein was carving out time to create art during his workday and staying late at night. He spent the next two years welding textured metal sculptures in a shed in the corner of his father's scrap metal yard. What started as an artistic release in his spare time, was now starting to consume his days. Weinstein said, "My Dad thought the sculptures were interesting, but was also concerned about running a business."

On a whim he took a metal wall sculpture to a local furniture store to see if they would buy it. "The old guy who owned the place didn't like it, but his son stopped me before I left and said that he wanted it. He purchased the sculpture to sell in the furniture store and it sold immediately," said Weinstein.

Shortly after he sold his first work, he was receiving orders at a slow but steady rate until a furniture sales person spotted his sculptures hanging in a store. The sales person contacted him to see if he could carry his artwork. The sales person used Mark's sculptures to accessorize the walls of a furniture show in Chicago. As a result of this exposure, manufacture representatives from all over the country began to inquire about selling his art. By 1967, the demand for Marc Creates metal sculptures was outgrowing the shed in the corner of his father's scrap yard. In need of a full-time production facility and showroom, Weinstein opened a studio in downtown St. Louis. By the early 1970s, Marc Creates was producing metal sculptures and furniture, shipping thousands of pieces of art throughout the world.

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