Michael Bauermeister

Michael Bauermeister knew by sixth grade that he wanted to be an artist because he loved making clay figures in art class. After high school, he studied art and sculpture at St. Louis Community College before enrolling at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. He soon found the program to be too conceptual, so he transferred to the Kansas City Art Institute, where he focused on wood as a medium. Bauermeister uses woods native to Missouri, where he lives, and is careful not to waste the material. He salvages most of his wood from a local urban log recycling company, which he prefers over "boring" commercially grown stock. (Jim Winnerman, "Augusta sculptor makes magic with salvaged wood," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 9, 2010 [online])