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B I O
John Rossi
b. Youngstown, Ohio USA
June 15, 1950 (it was snowing)
Formal Education
The Ohio State University – Columbus fall 1968 through spring 1977. Degrees included BA’s and BFA’s…I hung out until they kicked me out. Concentration was studio arts but also art history, literature, sociology, etc. There was no studio I didn’t have the key to.
Ohio University – Athens 1978/1980. MFA in multi-disciplined studio arts. I was a painting major – my two shows there were based around installation, printmaking and the written word.
Note: I had jobs since the age of 12 to pay for everything save a student loan or two…Grad school thank god was free – plus they paid me to teach classes…! While an undergrad at OSU I primarily ran a Levi’s shop at an upscale mall in Columbus. I also became an accomplished waiter of tables and a bartender – both skills that paid off later in life.
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I founded the company ROSSI PASTA while deciding what to do after grad school – which still is active – sans myself at rossipasta.com. I learned about real life while running the business from 1981 until 2000 – and to my way of thinking easily earned an MBA, psych and culinary degrees – plus enormous stand-up comedy credits. At our peak we had 30 employees.
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In 1986 I married into two very small kids and then eventually fathered four more – no – there was no plan. I enjoyed parenting immensely and though chaotic as you can imagine – it became an achievement/experience that highlights my life to this moment. My youngest are now 16 and 17.
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The decade of the 2000’s was my ‘brutal’ period …enough said. But we’ve all survived – except one. She is highlighted in much of my recent work however – a spirit never dies. I work daily – as you’ll see if you follow me here and at MYSPACE – I simply can’t stop my creative energies…and see very little reason to…it sustains me. I look forward to a full gallery show at THE PARKERSBURG ART CENTER in May of 2011 – and also hope very much to create other formal showing relationships with the emergence of this site.
Final note: you can – if you desire – read my life history (basically) at the MYSPACE blog – it scrolls back to May 2008 – sure – do a few a day – they are very short usually and encompass pretty much of the gamut of an artist’s life that absolutely does…wing it – much comedy also. If you are ever in the Marietta, OH area of our country – my studio is at:
104 Front Street
Marietta, OH 45750
Directly adjacent to the Lafayette Hotel at the mouth of The Ohio and Muskingum Rivers
Hours are by appointment but I’m there most of the time….Marietta is a quaint little town.
Best to you…April One - 2010
