Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rebecca Klundt. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Rebecca thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

I am a working artist. My medium is reclaimed materials specifically wood which I collect, break down and then reassemble. This process I developed as a student and came out of my love for power tools and for concern for wasted resources and landfill. When covid happened and all the community art events were cancelled, I realized quickly that I needed to find a way to keep people in my world. I developed a workshop called Art in the Park SLC. I invited people to my back yard where we could each be socially distanced but also participate together. For the workshop, I laid out a large tarp and dumped bucket loads of small pieces of wood, most of which were left overs from the bigger pieces that I had made. These pieces had a variety of color and texture as well as size. Participants could collect a good pile of pieces they were interested in and then go to a table and “puzzle” them together on an 8×8 board. When they were satisfied with what they had put together, they then glued the pieces on. It was so fun to discover that virtually everyone could make a piece of art that they loved using this process. Since that summer I have continued to run this workshop because I enjoy so much sharing this experience of creating something beautiful from left overs. I have had all kinds of people participate. Each person who comes gets their piece posted on my instagram, #artintheparkslc.

Rebecca, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I returned to school after raising my children and new that I would be an artist. The challenge would come in deciding what medium to focus on. I decided to try to discover what was at the core of me needing to create and what process I was driven to. I realized 3 things. I love power tools. I love the creative process of considering non traditional materials and how they could be used. Third, I live in the mountains and I love large rocks with their smooth textures and the lines created from the cracks. At school I started spending more and more time in the woodshop cutting up everyone elses left overs and making my own panels to paint on. Soon I gave up the painting and became a full time builder. When people ask me to describe what I do it is difficult. I consider my self a mix between a quilter and a construction worker. My pieces to have a quilt like quality which makes sense because my maternal grandmother was a scrap quilter and I feel a great connection to her. After graduating I build a wood shop/studio in my backyard and this is my happy place.
My work can be found in many collections. The most interesting is the 6 pieces commissioned for Delta which are hanging in their Sky Lounge at the Salt Lake International Airport. 5 of the pieces represent the “mighty five” or the 5 national parks of Utah. The sixth piece is actually my favorite and is less well known because it is around the corner from the 5. So if you ever go to the sky room, go around the corner and see my piece titled “Telling Our Stories”.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The hardest thing I did that I am most proud of is building my own studio. I didn’t know anything about how to do it and how to work with the city. I found a contractor and I told him that I would do everything myself that I could physically do. I took out a small loan and had a strict budget to stick to. First I dug the trenches for the foundation on one side of my yard. Then I was told that I would have to build on the other side so I filled in all those hand dug trenches and started over. The day they poured the concrete I cried because I knew that this was really going to happen. That slab was so beautiful to me. It took me 6 months to get the building up. Then I insulated it and put up walls and built shelves. All of this was so physically intense and I am just over 5 feet tall. This was something I wanted to much for myself and I still, 10 years later have to pinch myself that I get to do what I do.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I think that art schools should have more classes about the business of art. The people I know who excel are definitely doing more than making good art. Learning how to organize a business is such an important key to success. I am slowly learning how to close sales and capture leads. Instagram is really valuable and keeping up my website is important.
After a few years I paid someone to improve my website and that was worth the money.
The thing I did that helped me the most to launch when I got out of school was to apply immediately to do a show at one of our local non profit galleries. I sent out invitations to some of the local galleries introducing myself and that is how I got into a local gallery. Galleries can be a good thing but you should really shop around and get one that will be good for you. It definitely helps with credibility. I have learned that people need to see your work several times before they are ready to buy, unless your prices are crazy low which may be a good way to start.

Contact Info:

• Website: rebeccaklundt.com
• Instagram: #rebeccaklundt; #artintheparkslc
• Facebook: Rebecca Klundt