SPOTLIGHT ON ARTIST Bruce Stewart

ZOOINITAS WELCOMES ARTISTS,  BRUCE STEWART

We are so happy to have a wonderful artist and terrific person as Bruce.  When he talks about the ocean, his eyes light up and his face transforms into one gigantic smile as he reflects on what it means to him. As a child, artist Bruce Stewart found the ocean fascinating and compelling. Even then, he loved the roar of the waves, finding shells, and smelling the seawater. But it wasn't until an inspirational instructor motivated him during his freshman year at the College of the Sequoias that Stewart began to study his interest with a passion. And that passion grew as he finished with a major in Marine Biology/Zoology and a minor in Art at the University of California, Davis.

Born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley of central California between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the sea. After college (Zoology and Art at UC Davis) he moved to the coast and have lived within a few miles of a shore ever since. My favorite art instructor at UCD was Wayne Tiebaud, whose sense of color, shapes, and composition still influence my work today. After a stint in a graphics studio in SF and graduate studies in marine ecology at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories on Monterey Bay, he joined the then new Monterey Bay Aquarium as Program Curator in the early 1980s. Moved to Southeast Texas to become Education Director of the new Texas State Aquarium (TSA) in Corpus Christi in 1990. After building the Education Department and working as interim Assistant Director and Director of Husbandry at TSA, he moved back to California and started a consulting firm, Bruce Stewart Associates, serving clients ranging from California State Parks to NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary to the National Marine Biology Museum and Aquarium of Taiwan. In the early '90s he married Roberta Dean and became a father to her 5 yr. old daughter, Jessica. In addition to consulting, He founded the Return of the Natives Environmental Restoration Program (now at CSU Monterey Bay) and led eco-tourism trips internationally (East Africa, Seyshelles,

Bruce believes so much in the value of art as it relates to the sea, that he donates 10% of every artwork he sells to non-profit organizations that support ocean awareness and conservation. Among the recipients, Birch Aquarium, the Oceanic Society, Surf Rider, and the Surfing Madonna Foundation. Bruce says he always worked with non-profits and doesn’t want to disconnect from areas that he believes make a difference.

No wonder he has such a big smile when he talks about the ocean and his art!!!

Bruce has created a new piece for the Zooinitas show named: GOING WITH THE FLOE, you simply must check it out on July 26 at the opening reception of Zooinitas. His smile is infectious!  Visit Bruce at www.etsy.com/shop/oneoceanart or email him at bstewartassociates@gmail.com.