Norm Sartorius was born on 1947 and is an American woodworker who carves fine art spoons in many styles including natural, biomorphic, abstract, symbolic, ethnic, and ceremonial.
19 Facts About Norm Sartorius
2.
Norm Sartorius's works are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and other public and private collections.
3.
Norm Sartorius is a frequent participant in woodworking and craft shows in America, and won the Award of Excellence in Wood at the 2015 American Craft Council show in Baltimore and the 2015 Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, DC.
4.
Norm Sartorius received his BA in Psychology from Western Maryland College in 1969, then worked as a psychiatric social worker for five years at Spring Grove State Hospital in Catonsville, MD.
5.
Norm Sartorius changed careers and completed an apprenticeship with crafters Phil and Sandye Jurus, who had studied with Emil Milan.
6.
Norm Sartorius was juried into the American Craft Council craft show in Baltimore for the first time 1979.
7.
Norm Sartorius met his future wife, glass artist Diane Bosley, at the annual Fair in 1981, moved to Parkersburg, WV in 1982, and they married in 1983.
8.
Norm Sartorius focused exclusively on high end spoons and redesigned his booth to create a gallery-like environment, presenting each spoon as a sculpture.
9.
Norm Sartorius' sculpture Homage now in the Yale University Art Gallery is a tribute to Milan.
10.
Norm Sartorius prefers to work with very dense hardwood, especially root wood and burls with contrasting heartwood and sapwood colors, figured grain, and unique character from knots, deformities, damage, weathering, or other idiosyncrasies.
11.
Norm Sartorius follows the same sequence of steps when crafting his spoons.
12.
Norm Sartorius determines the exterior shape first before working on the inside of the spoon bowl.
13.
Norm Sartorius has won the Award of Excellence for wood at the Smithsonian Craft Show four times, most recently in 2015.
14.
Norm Sartorius won the Collectors of Wood Art Award for Excellence at the American Craft Council Baltimore show in February 2015.
15.
Norm Sartorius has won the Best of Show award and the Wharton Esherick Award at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show; and Best In Wood awards at both the Washington Craft Expo and the American Craft Exposition in Evanston, Illinois.
16.
Works by Norm Sartorius are in permanent collections of many museums including the Arkansas Arts Center; the Carnegie Museum of Art ; the Center for Art in Wood ; the Fuller Craft Museum ; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; the Museum of Art and Design ; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston ; the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Racine Art Museum ; the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery ; and the Yale University Art Gallery.
17.
Since 2008, Norm Sartorius has collaborated with woodworkers Phil Jurus and Barry Gordon on a research project focused on the life, work, and legacy of American master craftsman Emil Milan.
18.
The exhibit, which included works by Norm Sartorius, traveled to the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia and was expanded to include 19 artists influenced by Milan.
19.
Norm Sartorius was a speaker and panelist at a symposium held in conjunction with the exhibit focusing on Milan's life, work, and influence.