Vanguard Sculpture Services is a full service art foundry that designs, collaborates, and produces museum quality busts, reliefs, and figurative works for artists and clients across the country.
Located in Milwaukee’s 30th Street Industrial Corridor, our entire highly-skilled team are practicing artists themselves and enjoy faithfully reproducing and fabricating original artworks. Additionally, we work together with conservators, fabricators, engineers, and all types of sculpture guardians to protect and restore existing works.
Our history started in the early 1980s at Hartbronze -- an art foundry founded by MIAD professor Joseph Mendla and sculptor Hilary Goldblat, and supported by Bernie Peck's art incubator. After 12 years Hartbronze closed, and a handful of former employees dedicated to keeping foundry services available for local artists regrouped to form Vanguard.
Since then, our foundry has directly supported Milwaukee's local arts community by employing local artists, contracting freelance artists to provide a variety of talents for commissioned projects, and by giving interns opportunities when possible.
We also mentor emerging artists -- and assist established ones -- with less traditional, experimental works; and enjoy exploring new methods and materials to bring out the artist's vision in new and interesting ways.
A growing area of our work is to identify and solve challenges for outdoor sculpture. Many of Milwaukee’s public spaces and historic architecture have outdoor art that needs attention. We love working with organizations such as Sculpture Milwaukee, friends’ groups, and others who really care about art and want to address the unique challenges that accompany our community's custody of public art.
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Because we're passionate about Milwaukee's art community, we host exhibitions in our gallery space at the foundry including national organizations such as NCECA Art, local arts organizations, professional artists, and students; as well as regularly providing tours for arts groups, docents, and schools explaining the bronze casting process.
Milwaukee has been very supportive of our work and it’s humbling to have the trust of our community. It's a delight to be a part of a place that cares about the arts!
Visit: Vanguard Sculpture Services
Photo Credit: Erol Reyal
