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Degree or pedigree? That is the question.

Metal artist combines degree, heritage in sculptures, furniture, signage

Figure 1
Metal artist Stephen Christena used old, cast-off bicycle frames to build the support structure for a bike rack. In keeping with the theme, he incorporated an old refrigerator by mounting the appliance on top of the rack. He replaced the original doors with a window and filled the appliance with small sculptures made from other bicycle parts.

If a one-industry town is vulnerable to a change in fortunes, a one-company town’s position is even more precarious. Few cities exemplify this more than Flint, Mich., the hub of General Motors from the company’s founding until the 1980s. In GM’s first year, 1908, the city had fewer than 40,000 residents, and despite shrinking during the Great Depression, the city’s population grew over the decades and peaked at 197,000 (1960 census). It wouldn’t last. Large economic forces put the city’s population into a long-term decline sometime in the 1960s, a trend that was exacerbated by GM’s decision to reduce its Flint operations drastically in the 1980s. Today Flint’s population is 99,000 (2014 estimate). The number of Flint residents employed by GM fell from a peak of 80,000 in 1978 to 8,000 in 2010.

When Flint native and future metal sculptor Stephen Christena was on the cusp of entering high school in the late 1980s, the deindustrialization of Flint had taken its toll. Metalworking classes had disappeared, and woodworking was on its way out. It seemed a little ridiculous to Christena, given his background: His father, a longtime GM employee, was a can-do guy who enlisted help from Stephen and his siblings in any and all home repair and improvement projects—including electrical, plumbing, and roofing—so Stephen was accustomed to rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty. The lack of vocational classes in Flint closed off a few avenues for its high school students, Christena included.

Adept at mathematics, Christena had the potential to do well as an engineer, but he pursued an art degree at Western Michigan University instead. Along the way he was introduced to steel as an artistic medium, and he hasn’t looked back. 

Worldwide What?

Although trade occupations were in decline 20 years ago, an innovation was creating new careers.

A communications protocol and network system that allowed formerly stand-alone computers to talk to each other, the World Wide Web opened up all sorts of business possibilities. An apartment-locating service, Apartments.com, was one such business, and it needed photographers and salesmen. Christena became one of them.

“I traveled all over the U.S. for a year, taking photos and making sales,” he said.

Other gotta-pay-the-bills types of jobs followed, but Christena always found time to pursue his passion, turning metal into works of beauty. A Chicago resident for more than a decade, he and his artwork have a growing reputation around town.

“I’m most well-known for the rocking horse outside The Rocking Horse,” he said, citing an easy-to-spot landmark in the Logan Square neighborhood northwest of the Loop. Another work, contributed to a display organized by the local electric utility, was Christena’s effort to turn a discarded refrigerator into something useful. Because it was to be displayed downtown, Christena figured a bike rack would be welcome, so he made one strong enough to support an old fridge (see Figure 1).

“Someone even locked a bike to it,” he said.

His reputation took off, and eventually his former hobby started to interfere with his 40-hour-a-week job. When he’d had enough of two careers, Christena gave up the rat race and opened Midwest Metal

Figure 2
Many of Christena’s designs show a strong artistic flair yet have a robust, industrial feel about them.

Works, which does a mix of creative and utilitarian work. His three main specialties are furniture, banisters, and fixtures; business signs; and commissioned artwork (see Figure 2). He fortifies these areas with small fabrication projects and welding repairs.

While Christena makes pieces that are fancy or frilly on occasion, his pedigree—born and raised in a manufacturing town—is evident in the bold, sturdy look that characterizes much of his work. Flint didn’t provide Christena with an occupation, but it did provide a launching pad for his career.

Stephen Christena, Midwest MetalWorks LLC, 2223-G W. Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60622, 312-912-8622, stephen@midwestmetalworks.org, http://astrochi.wix.com/midwest-metalworks.

About the Author
FMA Communications Inc.

Eric Lundin

2135 Point Blvd

Elgin, IL 60123

815-227-8262

Eric Lundin worked on The Tube & Pipe Journal from 2000 to 2022.