(uplifting music)

- [Announcer] This
special presentation

was produced in high
definition by WEDU,

Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

- [Dalia] Major funding
for WEDU Arts Plus

is provided through The
Greater Cincinnati Foundation

by an arts-loving donor
who encourages others

to support your
PBS station, WEDU.

In this edition
of WEDU Arts Plus,

a Tampa musician
builds custom guitars.

- [Woody] But they're
made of different woods

and so the tones that come
from them are very different.

- [Dalia] A work of art.

- [James] Dr. Grohmann's
intention in giving
the collection

to the School of Engineering was

he thought that
students of engineering

and these very
technical students

should be confronted with
art on a daily basis.

- [Dalia] Welding
against the odds.

- I can either just
lay down and give up

or I can just keep moving,

and I've decided that
I wanna keep moving.

- [Dalia] And
designing the runway.

- [Voszi] I do hats,
jewelry, jackets.

One of my favorite
things to do are jackets.

- It's all coming up
next on WEDU Arts Plus.

(upbeat music)

Hello, I'm Dalia Colon,
and this is WEDU Arts Plus.

Every musician is unique.

So why shouldn't every
instrument be unique?

In this first segment,
let's meet a Tampa man

who goes by the nickname
Wood Woodcasters.

With the help of some
craftsmen and skills

he still remembers from his
high school wood shop class,

his custom guitars
are striking a chord

with musicians in search
of something different.

(blues music)

- I'm Woody
Woodcasters and I build

custom exotic wood guitars
and basses for fun and profit

and probably for some people

that have a whole lot more
money than they ought to have.

They are electric guitars.

We can build acoustic
guitars as well.

We've built a couple of
solid body acoustics,

but they're made
of different woods

and so the tones that come
from them are very different

because the woods resonate
at different frequencies.

Alright, so you have things
like this guitar right here,

number 13.

You have bloodwood, bleached
beech, flamed maple,

and wenge going on.

The pickups are made
of bloodwood and
California olive wood.

Ambrosia maple for
the fret board.

The neck is purple, oh wait,

the whole back of this guitar
is completely different.

Purple heart and mahogany
where we had bloodwood

and bleached beech.

How do you do that?
Stack the wood.

I started taking piano lessons
back in the early 1960s.

My parents thought I
needed to be well-rounded,

but no, I play about 14
different instruments now.

I decided to start
building guitars in 2005.

Well, I had a room full
of them to begin with,

and so, I'm sitting up in
the guitar room, I'm like,

"There's all this
plastic on these guitars.

"What if all the plastic parts

"were exotic hardwoods instead."

So we built a couple and
the tones were very rich,

and we just didn't
look back after that.

One, two, three, four.

(blues music)

We actually formed a band
called Woody and the Woodtones

as a blatant marketing tool

to go out and play blues cover
songs and play the guitars,

so people could see them
and hear them being played

in a live setting.

And didn't take very
long, members of the band

started actually
writing originals

and so they were really good,

so we put together a CD
and we recorded it live.

People started coming up
and asking who was Woody.

Since I was the one that
was sort of the spokesman

and the one building
the instruments,

I wound up becoming
Woody Woodcasters.

(upbeat music)

Well, a couple of
friends of mine

were involved in the
beginning, Craig and Randy.

They had other jobs and
I was pretty much retired

from the insurance
company at that point.

So I kept going.

I started going online
and I started finding

some fine American craftsmen

that actually did
some of this stuff.

I like to design it.

I'll get an
instrument in my head

and I can actually visualize
what it's gonna look like

when it's finished, before
even the first piece of wood

is ordered.

So I'll call up, for example,
someone building a body

like the one over there,

"I'd like a checker
board body, Strat style,

"ash and walnut."

And they'll build the
rectangular piece.

They'll cut the body out
of that, they'll form it,

and send me that
body part, raw wood.

We then have to do
the final sanding,

put the nitrocellulose
finish on it,

decide on what wood the pickups
are gonna be wound out of,

what wire it's gonna
be wound out of.

Pickups are the
electronic things

that pickup the string vibration

that make the electric signal
that goes to your amplifier.

If it's gonna have cavity covers

or pick guards or
anything like that,

I have to then go get the
wood and build those parts.

Our finish guy is
up in Wesley Chapel.

He's a blueberry farmer.

(laughs)

But the rest of the year,
he does finish work for us.

(blues music)

You can walk into any Sam Ash,

you can walk into any Guitar
Center, any place like that,

all these places have
the same exact guitars

from the same manufacturers.

A guitar that you can buy for
$200 that was built in China

is built out of
basswood and pot metal,

and it's fine for your
child starting out.

It's a good
beginning instrument.

But then, when you get better,

you decide that
you want something

that is going to
be your signature.

You want a guitar that nobody
else has, down to the cases.

Our cases are custom built.

If you can dream
it, we can build it.

I forgot how nice
this guitar plays.

- To see more, follow
realwoodywoodcasters
on Instagram.

On the Milwaukee School
of Engineering campus,

there's the Grohmann Museum.

Its entire theme is inspired
by the idea of man at work.

Let's take a look
at an exhibition

where artists collaborated
to depict human productivity.

(uplifting music)

- We like to say science
without art is nothing.

Not so much to provide culture,

but just to provide a
broader view of art.

The Grohmann Museum, it
was the product of a gift

to the Milwaukee
School of Engineering

of an art collection by
Dr. Eckhart Grohmann.

The collection all dealt
with the art of industry.

Dr. Grohmann was an
aluminum founder.

He ran a foundry on the
south side of Milwaukee.

That's why he had an
affinity to collecting art

and depictions of labor
and depictions of industry.

That's where the
collection began.

We're absolutely unique
in that the collection

all deals with human industry.

It's the art of industry,
the art of labor,

the art of human achievement.

The way the collection's
organized in the museum

is it's broken out thematically.

On the first floor, we have
iron and steel production

and all things related
to heavy industry.

On the second floor, we have
construction and agriculture,

so the more rural motifs
and those sorts of themes.

And on the third
floor, it's craftsmen

and intellectual trades,
so that's a little more

of a catch-all and includes
some of the oldest pieces

in the collection.

There's a number of
site specific art works

included in the building design.

They include the mosaic
floor on which you enter.

You look directly up and
you see our ceiling mural.

The rooftop sculpture garden,

it's a green roof that
includes 18 sculptures

that were all reproduced.

They're site specific pieces

based on pieces in the
permanent collection,

so they were
reproduced in life size

and larger than life size
for our rooftop garden.

Dr. Grohmann's intention
in giving the collection

to the School of Engineering

was he thought that
students of engineering

and these very
technical students

should be confronted with
art on a daily basis.

We host a number of feature
exhibitions every year.

The current exhibition,
Artists at Work,

is a wonderful collaboration
that we put together

with The Cedarburg Artists Guild

and a great opportunity
to showcase local talent.

This exhibition came about
as a result of a conversation

I had with Susan Steinhafel.

Susan is the director of
the Cedarburg Artists Guild.

So we discussed our theme,
that is the theme of industry,

the theme of work, and kind
of presented it as a challenge

to the guild to
create new pieces

surrounding this
theme of industry,

this theme of
human productivity.

And they readily
accepted that challenge.

There are 42 works by
14 featured artists.

The collection is laid
out by artists, actually.

We have them
arranged on the wall

with their pieces as companion
pieces to one another.

But we also laid it
out thematically,

so we looked for
natural connections

between the artists' work.

We have paintings, of course.

We have works on
paper, including
prints and photographs,

and a wide variety
in interpreting the
theme of industry.

Some of the artists
go at it straight

and just document
industry in a snapshot,

in more of a
straightforward approach.

Others go at it a
little differently,

think about the philosophy,
the psychology behind work,

what work means to us,
what work means to culture.

A little bit about
Paul Yank's work,

Paul is very revered by The
Cedarburg Artists Guild.

They all very much
look up to him

because he is a
master printmaker,

and so, a lot of the printmakers

that are included
in the exhibition

have taken their learning
and their tutelage from Paul.

- And you've got it on here.

We work with transparent inks.

We leave the textures that
are behind come through.

We don't wanna lose
all the things in it.

It's monoprint slash
pochoir, means stenciled,

and that way we can
lay color over color,

and with the transparencies,

you can get some
really beautiful tones

that you couldn't get otherwise.

- [James] Paul deals
in Native American

and Pan-Indian motifs, very
much a cultural perspective

on his work.

- It's a southwest pottery maker

and a Mexican basket
weaver and a silversmith,

and the other one
is all the workers,

the real workers,
which is the women.

It's all Indian pieces,
all tied together

as Indian pieces.

And I fell in love with
cultural anthropology,

why man does things, you know.

What the Native American
was doing as a manufacturer,

I mean, they were doing
these things themselves

and identified their way of
living, a way of working.

- [James] Michael
Santini styles himself

a modern medievalist
and also paints

in more of a surrealist vein.

And Michael's work is
very, very detailed,

very nuanced a lot,
iconography, a lot of symbolism.

- I love repetition
and I love symmetry.

So there's a lot
of recurring things

that happen in one
painting that'll transfer

and move over into
another painting.

Because I want my pieces
to be somewhat cerebral,

I want them to make a statement,

to challenge people to think,

and maybe even to
make decisions.

I would pick the
different symbols

that I wanted to represent
the different elements

in that painting.

And then try and
bring all the elements

out to the people that
are looking at the piece,

so they could kind of interact.

And then, when I would
design the border,

I would lay out the border,

then I would take these
individual drawings

of these elements, and I
would start manipulating them

around the paper to try and
get the strongest design.

As time moves on and paint
gets a little more transparent,

then the undertones come through
and give a lot more form.

- [James] The iconography,
the subject matter,

often quite wild and
it's inspired by his
own spirituality.

And so we see a lot
of Biblical motifs

and messages in his work,
as well as a great deal

of symbolism.

- [Michael] Through
working in industry

and working alongside
somebody else

and getting to know them,
getting to respect them,

I thought this would
be kind of apropos

what's going on today.

- [James] We included a
number of Milwaukee artists

in the exhibition.

The Suite by Shelby Keefe
of the Marquette interchange

of the new Milwaukee
Bucks Stadium project,

or arena project.

A couple great paintings by
Hal Koenig of local industry,

the swing bridge
in the third ward,

some of the other
icons that we think of

when we think of local industry.

And they just added a new
dimension and another dimension,

a new element to the exhibition

and complemented
quite well that art

that the Cedarburg
group had produced.

This particular collection
of Artists at Work

I think shows a great
variety and a great diversity

in interpreting that theme
of the art of industry,

but it also showcases
some great local talent.

- Learn more about the
Grohmann Museum's collection

at msoe.edu/museum.

You can find forks,
spoons, and knives

welded together in Gary Hovey's
unique animal sculptures.

While Hovey enjoys his craft,

maintaining his technique is
becoming a greater challenge

every day.

- I have art in my background,

but not like college
or anything like that.

When I was younger, I
was into doing clay work,

and then, when we moved
to Tulsa, Oklahoma,

I went and saw a job that
said Fine Arts Foundry.

I did that for several years

and I was in charge of the
metal shop in the Foundry,

so I learned how to weld there.

First, I saw John Kearney's work

where he took bumper ends,
and welded them together,

and made animals
that were large.

We saw his work in Wichita,
Kansas, 35 years ago.

I was a teenager at the time
and I didn't know how to weld.

I thought it was a great idea.

But then I forgot
about it and one day,

I thought of it again.

I told my wife, I said,
"I wanna buy some flatware

"and try that idea that
I had 30 years ago."

She said, "Yes."

So I went and did
it, and I made a dog.

- The first one he
did was quite good.

It's a little running dog.

We said he ran like
a freight train.

He really had a knack
right from the beginning

for capturing the
character of an animal.

(playful music)

You have a good day.

See you later.

- I have early onset
Parkinson's disease,

and I just had a
little twitchy finger.

I went in and tried to
figure out what was going on,

and they came out with,
"You have Parkinson's."

I've dealt with
this for 21 years.

It really is kind of a
problem, cuz I can't move fast.

I'm a freezer, I'm
not a shaker really.

I can't move once I freeze.

I either lay down
or just quit doing

whatever I'm trying for a while.

And then I go back to it,
so I get in like four hours

to six hours on a
good day of work.

I can either just
lay down and give up

or I can just keep moving.

And I've decided that
I wanna keep moving.

- For Gary physically, dealing
with the Parkinson's disease

is a big deal.

There have been several times

when it's just come to be like,

maybe this is it, maybe
you're gonna have to quit.

He would just be at
a really low point,

and then, we'll manage
to work through it.

- I have to say that my
wife is just the greatest.

She critiques my work,
supports my work.

She drives me
everywhere I need to go,

and she takes care
of my internet stuff.

She communicates with people.

She's my banker.
She's everything.

And so, I couldn't
do it without her.

I really couldn't.

- It's just there
are some things

that Gary doesn't find
easy to do anymore.

I encourage him a
lot, cuz there's times

when he just feels like
things aren't going as well

as he'd like and he doesn't
see the point anymore.

Whatever he needs, I try
to be in tune to that

and help him with it.

He says it's not done until
I give it my final approval.

- [Gary] Make sure they're
all stiff on there, too.

- [Tonnie] But maybe--

- The first place I'll
start is like on a heron,

for instance, he
comes off a base.

I'll make that
first leg straight

and then I'll work on
making everything centered.

I try to make the piece
from the head down.

If I make the head
a head I like,

then I'll finish the piece.

(tapping)

I put the forks
and spoons on top

of this cage I built in
there, the body shape.

I limit myself to forks,
knives, and spoons.

I could do it with other
pieces of metal, but I don't.

It adds a uniqueness to it.

And so, I do have to use
new flatware sometimes,

but there's less than
two percent of it.

And everything else
is used flatware.

I try to keep it
eco-friendly that way.

I'll see an animal on
TV or in a magazine

and I'll go, "Wow,
that's a cool animal.

"I think I'll try and
build one of those."

Or I'll see in my mind what
flatware to use for an animal.

I try to get the
animal to look like

what I think the
animal would look like.

I also try to put what I
call attitude into my pieces.

I did a family of gorillas.

I tried to make the baby
look like he's having fun,

where you look at it, and
you look at the heron,

and he looks like he's
gonna do something to you

cuz you're bothering him.

It's just a cock of
the head a little bit.

- I think people are
drawn to Gary's work

because it's not expected.

They can't really figure
out how he did it.

How did he get a face out of
forks, knives, and spoons.

And they start looking
at the individual pieces

that are in it, and maybe they
see grandma's pattern in it,

or a pattern that they have,

and they start enjoying
just looking at the textures

and the way they work together.

- I'm in kind of a condition

that I'm still able
to produce stuff.

I enjoy that respect.

Even though I've got
Parkinson's disease,

I haven't given up and
I'm not gonna give up

'til I have to.

I'll keep doing this as
long as it keeps selling,

I'll keep making 'em.

As long as people keep thinking
that I have nice artwork,

then I'll keep at it.

- Check out more of Gary Hovey's
artwork at hoveyware.com.

Fashion designer Voszi Douglas

is no stranger to rocking
the runway in Columbus, Ohio.

Whether it's casual
or evening wear,

she makes sure to spotlight
the versatility of her designs.

Here's a behind the scenes look
at her annual fashion show.

(pensive music)

- Even when I was a child,
before I went to school,

I would draw fashion.

I wanted to be a
fashion designer.

I didn't think I'd have to sew.

I thought I would just
create these outfits

and somebody would sew them
cuz I'd be so fabulous.

I didn't start sewing until I
was 25, so that's one thing.

So when I first started sewing,

the drawings that I was doing

were looking like
Vogue patterns.

So, of course, I'm
buying Vogue patterns

and they're kind of hard to do,

cuz you gotta buy the pattern,

then you gotta cut
out the pattern,

then you gotta pin
it to the fabric,

then you gotta cut that
out, then you gotta fall.

Oh, it makes my head hurt.

It evolved over years.

I didn't do great right
off, that's for sure.

What inspires me is fabric
and color and texture,

and I just get all
excited about all that.

That's exciting to me.

I do hats, jewelry, jackets.

One of my favorite
things to do are jackets.

I do jackets out of
upholstery fabric.

I think that's what
I'm best known for.

When you think about it,
it's really high quality,

it's a good textures, sometimes
you can use front and back.

I love upholstery.

(playful music)

Now, the show that I'm
doing next month is,

once a year since 1982,
I do a fashion show

where I preview
my new collection.

And so this is the 34th
year of doing that.

And I will be sewing
and making jewelry

and purses and hats up until
they take the sewing machine

and say, "Okay,
the models are here

"to try their clothes on."

I have two lines.

I have Voszi Designs, which
is maybe like what I have on,

maybe everyday where
type of things more.

Then I have the
Alvoyce Collection,

which is my higher
end collection.

This show is gonna
be a whole show

of the Alvoyce Collection.

That's something I've
never done before,

so it's exciting and scary.

But it'll be probably
100 and something pieces.

I have like 18 models.

(upbeat music)

I like colors and I like
putting things together

that are unusual.

I think a lot of people, if
they lose a little weight

or gain a little weight,
they can still fit

in my outfits.

And they're changeable
cuz you can wear them

frontwards, backwards,
sometimes upside down,

cuz they're not structured.

I like outfits that
when you walk in a room,

you might love 'em,
you might not love 'em,

but you're gonna notice 'em
cuz they're gonna be different.

I love people. I love fashion.

I like color and I just
wanna leave something,

a legacy when I leave that
people loved my clothes.

They're easy to wear.

I wanna also be a nice
and a spiritual person.

- For more of Voszi's designs,

go to
Facebook.com/voszi.douglas.

And that wraps it up for this
edition of WEDU Arts Plus.

For more arts and culture,
visit wedu.org/artsplus,

where you'll find feature
videos, local events,

and arts and culture partners.

Until next time, I'm Dalia
Colon, thanks for watching.

(upbeat music)

Major funding for WEDU Arts Plus

is provided through The
Greater Cincinnati Foundation

by an arts-loving donor
who encourages others

to support your
PBS station, WEDU.