Collection: COBERT C COLLINS

Cobert C Collins sculptures and collections span four continents, over 20 public and private facilities, and more than 3,000 homes. His images range from small 6 inch representational pieces to large 15 foot steel abstracts. His works have been the subject of television, newspapers, magazines, private collections and numerous galleries. He was the Artist in Residence at the Chateau du Bonmont, Cheserex, Switzerland.

Collins images reflect his inner vision that life is “a discovery of the inherent design and relationship between all things.” His pieces mirror a continued fascination with movement and change and the importance of bonds between people. He originated a technique of modeling bronze into stainless steel through a direct welding process. His concept was to eliminate the hard, manufactured look of welded steel. Additionally, ceramic shell castings are used in both his bronze and gold silica bronze castings. They are created through the lost wax process.

Born in 1924, in Portsmouth, Ohio, he was the oldest son of 6 children. His family moved to Harlan County, Kentucky, and his father died when he was 11. When WW II broke out he joined the army becoming a decorated Paratrooper and Ranger in the 101st Airborne Division, the “Screaming Eagles.” After the war, Collins enrolled in University of Missouri where he discovered art, writing, and working with clay. He earned degrees in Fine Arts and Psychology and moved on to do graduate work in Art and Occupational Therapy. There he met his wife of 42 years.

Collins later moved to upstate New York to became a successful restaurateur and artist, and he and his wife raised two children. While in New York he founded an Artists Consortium of local painters and sculptors. He also began exhibiting his work in one man exhibits, initially at the Arnot Art Gallery in Elmira New York. He then moved to West Palm Beach, and continued his journey for the next 30 years to become an enormously prolific sculptor. After the passing of his wife he remarried at age 72.

Collins passed in Delaware, Ohio on March 19, 2013. A large portion of Collins remaining work was given to the Westerville Ohio Parks and Recreation Foundation in partnership with the Cobert C Collins Memorial Sculpture Fund, LLC. Through this partnership his works will continue to be displayed and sold in the greater Westerville area. Furthermore, Collins sculptures will be a centerpiece of the community wide art initiative being planned and presented in Westerville throughout the remainder of the decade.