About Russ

Russ RuBert is the only Missouri sculptor to have ever been awarded the prestigious “Missouri Individual Artist Award,” the State’s highest honor bestowed upon an artist.

He was presented the award in February 2007 by Governor Matt Blunt along with formal resolutions in his honor presented in the Missouri House and Senate.

An alumnae of the Kansas City Art Institute, RuBert has maintained his 22,000 square-foot sculpture fabrication studio in Springfield since 1999. Using a combination of 3D computer CAD/CAM systems and laser-cutting technology, RuBert is able to construct the monumental works of art that have garnered international recognition.

Russ RuBert’s work combines diverse materials that speak directly of our time and age: metal, light, electricity, neon, and kinetics. He has a talent for combining durable state-of-the-art materials with curvilinear, organic forms — and most importantly, with the transient moments that are created by interaction of the viewer with the art.

“I like to take metal and make something extraordinary with it. It’s not just that I’m making something large, but I’m making something that is able to hold a symbolic or graceful shape with strength and durability. I handcraft patterns into the metals, and these patterns catch and reflect the light. They move as you move. It’s very dramatic.”

His past five years of service on the executive board of the International Sculpture Center, the publisher of Sculpture Magazine, have kept him in touch with the pulse of contemporary art around the world and world-class urban renewal sculpture projects. He founded Sculpture.net in 1996, which today has grown into the world’s largest on-line sculptors’ community and resource.

As president of the Springfield Regional Arts Council, he chaired the city cultural plan and worked with the City of Springfield to author the letter to the State of Missouri that won $3.4 million of tax credits for the Creamery Arts Center. As president of the Springfield Sister Cities Association, RuBert helped create the Annual Japanese Fall Festival, led three citizen delegations to Japan, and served on the exploratory committee to find Springfield’s Mexican sister city.

Russ also owns Rubert Diversified Investments, a company with holdings in commercial real estate and a successful blend of business and creativity.

RuBert has been a consultant to Emory University, Georgia State University, and the Iowa Child Project for interactive multimedia art and science projects that have been featured in Discover, National Geographic, Time, and documentaries by NHK of Japan.