Bryant Schwartz — Is It Art? - theHumm January 2025

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

Our editor, Kris Riendeau, read an interesting and beautifully written article by Heather Atkinson in the December 5th edition of The Millstone describing the fate of her son’s metal sculptures. Her son is Bryant Schwartz, an auto mechanic and co-proprietor of Volkhaus Auto, an automotive parts and service business located on the east edge of Almonte.

A few months ago I wrote about pareidolia — the tendency to see faces or other patterns in response to an ambiguous visual stimulus. Bryant has an unusual gift for visualizing extraordinary critters when he is surgically removing defunct parts from his customers’ ailing cars. About eight years ago he was disassembling an engine and conducting a post-mortem to determine why and how the failure had occurred. A few engine parts fell in a heap, and “When the pistons caught the crankshaft at just the right angle, it reminded me of a dog.” On a whim, he gathered them up and welded the pieces into a dog sculpture. When he showed the customers his spur-of-the-moment artwork, he was blown away by their reaction — they wanted to buy it. He gave it to them.

That chance inspiration has morphed into a “hobby” that brings him a great deal of satisfaction. He displays his occasional artworks in the public spaces in his automotive shop, and enjoys the appreciative feedback and offers of purchase they generate. So far he has not sold any. Kids love them, and Schwartz is delighted to join his grandmother, a painter, and his mother, an author, in their artistic pursuits. Bryant’s photo at the top of the page shows him next to a portrait of him and his mom that was painted by her mom (Pearl Atkinson).

What IS Art?

The title of the article by Bryant’s mother, Heather Atkinson, raises the fascinating question of “Art — What’s It For?” Before we go there, I’d like to digress to the equally intriguing question — what IS art? A January 1st article at theconversation.com asks: “Can animals make ‘art’?” They provide numerous examples from nature that beg the question, citing the intricate and attractive endeavours of bowerbirds, elephants, whales and even mollusks. For many aficionados, some forms of modern art stretch the question to the breaking point. At Artnet.com I read recently that “Passion for Abstract Expressionism Endures.” To prove their point, they noted that an almost 80-year-old, seven-foot-tall abstract painting — Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange) — by Mark Rothko sold at Christie’s on November 9 for $46.4 million. To the “uneducated” eye, it appears as several horizontal stripes of yellow and orange. It brings to mind the furor over the National Gallery’s 1989 purchase of Barnett Newman’s Voice of Fire for $1.9 million. That piece was recently valued at $40 million.

Degas is quoted as saying “art is not what you see, but what you make others see”. Bryant Schwartz’s creations definitely meet and exceed that criterion. Yes, some of them require a little imagination on the viewer’s part, but that is precisely the point, the challenge, and the entertainment.

To See or Not to See

To Schwartz, his sculptures are inspired by and a gift to the people of Almonte. He has lived his life in this friendly and artsy town, and wants to make a contribution. He is cleaning up the environment; otherwise his raw materials would end up in a junkyard. He wants his art to be noticed by people who are really looking. This past November he decided to try an experiment. After more and more people praised his sculptures, he wanted to pay a tribute to his hometown. Sometime in November, Bryant surreptitiously placed a metal sculpture inside the corral by the Naismith statue in downtown Almonte. The only bought component in the piece was an object purchased from an Almonte antique shop in honour of the town’s small businesses.

The gift survived for three weeks before it went missing. Bryant was unperturbed; his response was, “Don’t take it to destroy it; take it to enjoy it!” But Heather decided to dig deeper, and eventually contacted Operations Manager John Gleeson of Mississippi Mills Municipal Services. Much to her delight, Gleeson informed her that Bryant’s artwork was safe. It had been removed as a result of three complaints, including that it “didn’t go well with the Christmas theme.” Fortunately, Gleeson appreciated Bryant’s art and set it aside in the hopes that someone might show up to claim it. Bryant retrieved it, and it has found a new home. After speaking with him, I am relatively confident that his gift to the town was meant sincerely, even if he failed to apply for a permit. Nevertheless, if he decides to go into the art business, it was a brilliant marketing move!

Automotivated

Schwartz grew up in Almonte and knew he wanted to be a mechanic by the time he was three years old. His dad, Michael Schwartz, was an aircraft mechanic at Carp Airfield, and Bryant worked on farm equipment and airplanes throughout his teens. He credits the Co-operative Education program he participated in as a student at the Almonte District High School with his career as an automotive mechanic. He hopes to train and mentor another student as soon as the program is reintroduced. With his partner, Marek Oczkowski, he became an entrepreneur in 2014 with the founding of Volkhaus Automotive, an automotive parts and service business focusing on the European car market.

His priceless (they’re not for sale, at least so far, and the parts don’t cost him anything) artworks can sometimes be found at the shop. He has repurposed a Porsche cylinder head into an office table, and excess oil drums provide the housings for his burn barrels with character. Some of his automotive customers appreciate their burn barrel sculptures so much they bring them indoors and refuse to light fires in them. Others display their Halloween candles in them. He gifts them on the condition that you never sell or throw them away. They are appreciated by people who have developed the gift of seeing what is not immediately obvious. They are art.

Artist Trading Card

WHO Bryant Schwartz

WHAT Metal Sculptor, Automotive Parts and Service

WHERE Volkhaus Automotive, 4582 March Rd., Almonte, volkhausauto.com , 256-8277

WHEN Whenever defective automotive parts inspire him.

WHY “They’re a tribute to Almonte, and kids love them.”