Robert Ellison was born in Detroit, Michigan in
1946. He received his BFA and MFA from Michigan State University. His
art experience spans over three decades and includes many public and
corporate, large scale, permanently sited commissions located from
Providence, Rhode Island to Santa Rosa, California to Anchorage,
Alaska.
Temporary installations include sites at the San
Francisco Civic Center Plaza, Oakland City Center, City of Mountain
View City Hall, U.S. Dept. of Energy Fermi-Lab, Syntex Corp., American
President Lines Inc., and a wealth of other corporate, municipal and
private settings. His works can be found in the private collections
many prominent citizens worldwide, including Renee DiRosa’s Preserve
in Napa, California. He has also had numerous national and
international gallery exhibitions. Mr. Ellison is well
known for his public performance, the "Unveiling of Four Times Daily",
which took place on San Francisco Bay in the late 1970’s and was
documented by Bravura Films.
He has given more than 50 lectures on his steel
sculptures and his sculptural ceramics, as well as taught at Michigan
State University, Lansing Community College, College of Marin and the
San Francisco Academy of Art College. He has made approximately 25
television appearances and two documentary films have been produced
about his sculptures; "Four Times Daily" (Bravura Films, San
Francisco, CA) and "Donut Diorama" (Chris Robson, Sausalito, CA). Mr.
Ellison has also received 1st Place at the 21st
Annual All California Show, 1st Place Award in the Detroit
Institute of Arts Competition, Purchase Prize at the San Francisco
Arts Festival, Purchase Recommendation in the "Peoples Choice
Project", and been a Featured Exhibitor at the Bicentennial San
Francisco Art Festival. He is also listed in "Who’s Who in American
Art" and "Who’s Who in the World".
