Don Drumm gives advice to aspiring artists: 5 questions with the Akron art legend
If you've lived in Akron long enough, you have seen Don Drumm's artwork.
The sun and moon sculpture in the Akron-Summit County main library. The sculpture just outside Taylor Hall at Kent State, with its connection to May 4, 1970. One of his newest pieces in the Cascade Valley Metro Park. And, of course, Drumm's own gallery and store on Crouse Street in Akron.
Artist Don Drumm works at his studio in Akron on Thursday, March 27.
Drumm's signature suns, moons, stars, birds, angels and other metal artworks can be found far and wide.
A part of this is due to the fact that he has been an artist for a long time. Drumm, who recently turned 90, was born in Warren. He first went to Hiram College but later transferred to Kent State University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Arts degree.
He opened his studio in 1960. In 1971, Don and Lisa Drumm, his wife, expanded the studio to include a gallery.
Today, the Drumm family has eight buildings and provides gallery space for more than 500 artists, according to the Don Drumm studio website. As well as Don and Lisa Drumm, two of their three daughters also are artists, with the third being a teacher at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School.
Even now, Don Drumm can still be found working in his studio, creating his next works on art.
Who inspired you to pursue a career in art?
"A gal named Mayo Johnson," Drumm said. "I studied at Hiram, and I entered as a premed student. But I had a course in calculus coming up. I kept thinking, 'I'm going to die in here.'"
The calculus course forced him to reconsider his prospective career in medicine, Drumm said. Drumm said Johnson was teaching an art class he was interested in taking. The class, he said, was already full, but she still managed to work with him.
"Mayo changed my whole life," Drumm said. "She was a Quaker, and I became a Quaker because of her."
Do you have a piece of art you are most proud of?
"I always feel that the last piece of art I'm working on is my favorite," Drumm said.
However, he added that he was partial to two of his more recent outdoor sculptures. One, "Sun Tracker," is a 19-foot-tall stainless steel sculpture installed in the Valley View section of Cascade Park in 2021. The second, "Birdsnest," was installed about a year later in High Bridge Glens Park on Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls.
What advice would you give to an aspiring artist?
"First of all, you have to establish yourself as an artist before you open a gallery," Drumm said. "Most artists don't think in terms of the business end."
Drumm said a good friend, Walter Mirapol, was invaluable in helping with the business side of Don Drumm Studios.
"He advised me a lot on business things that I would not have known," Drumm said. "We became good friends. We stayed in touch until he died."
Lisa Drumm also helped out with the business end of the gallery, Drumm said.
"She's more tuned in than I am on things like that," he said.
How has the art scene changed?
"The artists are always encouraged to be changing, and I think Akron has become more interested in the arts," Drumm said. "I have been blessed in many things with this city. I like working with industrial techniques. I've worked with sandblasting, cast aluminum, I've welded, anything I can get my hands on."
How has your own art changed?
"I think I'm getting a little more sophisticated in the types of things I do," he said. "I'm more careful in the projects I choose to do. I don't take on everything that I once did."
Drumm added that it was "a little harder" to take on the larger sculptures, and that he concentrates more on smaller pieces now. He has recruited manufacturers to assist with cutting the metal − which he supervises. But he is still creating and perfecting his skills at turning metal into works of art.
Reporter April Helms can be reached at [email protected]
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Don Drumm gives advice to aspiring artists: 5 questions with the Akron art legend
