Today we’d like to introduce you to Al Garnto.
Al, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a professional artist, kinetic sculptor, and blacksmith. Currently I’m working on the Appalachian Sculpture Project which will consist of 24 kinetic sculptures from Georgia to Maine.
Most of my kinetic sculptures are made from recycled materials and then put into motion by harnessing the wind’s energy. My designs often come out of the materials I find from work places like sawmills, machine and welding shops, construction sites, dumpsters, and old barns that are being torn down. I design and engineer my sculptures to come out of the recycled materials I find. I have worked extensively with recycled materials for over 25 years.
My Appalachian Sculpture Project was conceived in hopes of exposing areas of the Appalachian Mountains to art and sculpture that would otherwise not be attainable by small community funding. Since 2009, Meeks Park, a municipal park located in Blairsville, Georgia (the southern tip of the Appalachian Mountains), has been host to ten of my large scale kinetic sculptures. This is the largest kinetic sculpture exhibit in Northeast Georgia history! (The Appalachian Sculpture Project is made possible in part by a Grassroots Art Program (GAP) grant and county funding.)
My sculptures have helped increase tourism, attracted students from surrounding colleges and school systems, utilized recycled materials, increased awareness of learning differences, and added to the beauty of Meeks Park. Most of the sculptures incorporate a plaque with art, math, science, and history lessons for educational purposes.
Living with a learning difference has led me down unique paths. From sculpture and collage, to charcoal, composite photography, oil paints, and so on. I love to resurrect an object from its death and give it a new life, a second chance if you will; it’s hard to explain. I feel a connection to these objects that I come in contact with. The connection I feel as I use these objects is like therapy.
My work with collage intentionally manipulates the audience’s ability to comprehend what it is I’m saying. I purposely blur words and phrases to impart to the audience the frustration I have dealt with every day. I have found a connection between expressive mark making, found object, collage, and a conceptual cryptic sort of abstract thought process. These combinations come together in one piece which hopefully enables viewers to get a feel for how it feels to live with a learning difference. I want my art to draw people in, to ignite their interest, and to make them think. It is the participation in this thought process that will lead them to the inner discovery of the many possible meanings of my work.
*Since 2010 for the most part I have been ranked the number one kinetic sculptor in the state of Georgia by Google Search. For more information, television interviews, A.S.P. documentary, and videos, please visit my website at http://www.algarnto.com
Has it been a smooth road?
Al Garnto was born on July 6, 1968 and is a native of Blairsville Georgia. His interest in art began during early childhood when his mother taught him how to draw. By the age of four, he was mimicking her drawing techniques and by his pre-teens his outstanding drawing ability was gaining notice.
Failing in almost everything except art, music, and physical education, Al was expelled from the local school system at the age of fifteen. Officials at that time stated that Garnto’s inability to learn the fundamentals and his extreme amount of energy were causing a disturbance that kept the other students from learning.
Al spent the next several years studying for his G.E.D with hopes of going on to college to study art. Garnto earned his diploma in 1990 and then in 1992 was accepted into Young Harris College as an art major.
Garnto was at the top of his art classes but was failing every other academic course. Justine Wallace, a professor at YHC, recognized that Garnto had some sort of learning problem but by law was unable to help without an official diagnosis.
Garnto says, “I felt my legs were being kicked out from under me once again. I had tried everything I could think of to further my education for years and this time I didn’t feel like getting back up, but by the grace of God a way was found to pay for testing. These tests helped change the course of my life. The faculty members at YHC were not surprised when the test results came back with diagnosis of a rare form of dyslexia.”
Dick Aunspaugh, a professor of art at Young Harris College, says, “Al is very talented in visual arts creativity. What impresses me the most is his enthusiasm, energy, and love of art. His art spirit combined with his drawing and painting talents have led to some outstanding creative art work.”
Garnto adds, “The diagnosis allowed me to understand for the first time that my brain processed information differently than the rest of the population. Since we now knew what the issue was, the college faculty was able to develop ways to help me understand my course work. I was able to learn despite my learning difference. By the end of 1993 I had brought my grade point average up to a 4.0. That same year I received several awards for my paintings and sculptures. I was named to the Dean’s List, and was presented with a Presidential Scholarship to The Atlanta College of Art. Finally my dream was becoming a reality. Hold fast to dreams is what I say, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly…and a person who has an imagination without learning, has wings and no feet.”
Al continues, “If this learning difference sounds like someone you know, please get them some help. It can change the course of their life. People with any learning difference should keep hoping and never give up on their dreams. To this day I still struggle with learning difference but I never give up.”
John Denton, one of Georgia’s top art collectors, that has lent works from his private collections to museums around the world, including the High Museum of Art located in Atlanta Georgia had this to say about, Al, “Al Garnto is one of the most gifted artists I have had the pleasure to ever meet, and I have met the best of best in the New York art world. And even collect a few Jasper Johns, Jim Dine, George E. Ohr, Howard Finster, John Marin, William Wegman. With Al you get the whole package. You have to realize that whatever medium he is working with, he always has a message, and each work means something. Just this fact makes him different than 90% of the artist that just want to be commercial, and make some money for a pretty picture, nice flowers, a black bear, all fluff. But, with Al you get a whole education, and this has been his theme of teaching people through his art. It could be something as simple as the basic shapes, where all age groups can focus on things in nature that well all see, but at the same time we are not seeing. The Appalachian Sculpture Project is a perfect example of this. Al’s brain computes on a whole different level than the rest of us civilians. It is called a “learning difference” but I have to say that, his difference is an amazing gift. There is nothing he can’t build, mold, paint, design, and his brains sees 3-D shapes, at night he can see the cogs turning in complex machines, multiple angles at the same time, and yet thin these out to the purest form, that we can understand. But, as with Jasper Johns, and others who give you a painting to look at, that seems simple and forward in subject matter, in reality it goes much deeper, there is a reason for this. You never see it all the first go around. The Appalachian Sculpture Project, is all about telling people who maybe don’t know anything about art can see that if you use things around you. The pencil in your hand, the light bulb, a hand full of dirt, acorns, tin from an old barn, nuts from all kind of man made equipment, can be made into something amazing.”
Georgia Backroads Mag. Article, Autumn 2013 by, Scott Thompson
When I asked Garnto where he came up with the idea to create his sculptures he hesitated. “The truth isn’t popular these days,” he said. He was praying one night and thanking God for his talents, and also apologizing for not using his gifts fully. Then the words came to him, “What hands have I dealt you in life, Al?” It was at that moment he realized his talents and disability could work together to help others. “Up until that moment I had always thought of my learning difference as a disability. I hated not being able to understand like everybody else.” The next morning Garnto decided to share his story through his art. He never referred to dyslexia as a learning disability again. It simply became a learning difference. “It’s a gift from God,” he said, “and it has opened way more doors than it’s ever closed.”
On the back door of his shop is a whiteboard with more of his equations. Before he shows me the parts he’s using on a new sculpture he explains the equations that use math to explain life. While we tinker in his shop like two old men I begin to realize that the artist who was diagnosed with a learning disability is clearly a genius. “I’ve had to decode everything in life. It’s difficult. My hope is that the codes in my artwork will show people what it’s like going through life having to decode everything.”
Al Garnto has used what most of us take for granted to create art. He’s created interactive pieces for others to enjoy from things society has thrown away. For a person who struggled through school he is philosophical like a college professor. “I want my art to draw people in,” said Garnto, “to ignite their interest, and to make them think. It’s the participation in this thought process that will lead them to the inner discovery of the many possible meanings of my work.”
After studying at The Atlanta College of Art, Al Garnto returned to his hometown of Blairsville Georgia, and in 1994 he opened his own business – the Al Garnto Fine Art Studio. Al says, “I have made my living for the past 25 years solely from the sale of my art. My art is collected throughout the United States and Canada.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.algarnto.com/index.html
- Email: algarnto@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/algarnto
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/algarnto/videos
Image Credit:
Photo courtesy of the Al Garnto archives.
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