- Artists / Kinetic Steam Works

Artist Bios.

Zachary Rukstela is an industrial artist in residence and musician at NIMBY, an artists fabrication faciity located somewhere in Oakland, CA. As a wee lad, he attended countless agricultural shows featuring steam engines and vintage steam technology. For the La Contessa, aka the Desert Galleon, he designed the electrical & mechanical layout, implemented it, and maintained it for every year it’s been to the Black Rock Desert. He’s a long time volunteer Firemen & Water Tender on the S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien, a steam driven liberty-class ship first launched in 1943. He is a member of the Extra Action Marching Band and plays drums around the Bay Area. During the day, he’s an electrical engineer by trade, a radio engineer by occupation, and a restorer of vintage steam engines by choice.

Sean Orlando is a multi-disciplinary artist working in a variety of different mediums, from metal and fire, to plaster, wood and video. His interests are rooted in the interplay of aesthetics and functionality. He has done site-specific installation, welded sculpture, multi-media sculpture, video installation and performance art. He believes in an integrated hands-on and conceptual approach to art making. He has collaborated and worked with a number of artists and arts organizations including The DuDu Arts Collective, The San Francisco Opera, The Oakland Symphony, Drowning Rat, BRAF, Zellerbach Playhouse and The Crucible. Lately, he's the recipient of a large grant for a huge sculptural project, The Steampunk Tree House. He lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally from New York, Sean moved Out West to study art at UC Berkeley. He's has been a Studio Manager, teacher, and Events Planner at The Crucible Industrial Arts Center in West Oakland for four years. You can find his website here.

Greg Jones, click HERE for the full bio.

John Manyjohns is a writer,
writer of grants, designer of
websites (including this one)
and fliers, unofficial offerer of
earplugs to Sean O., and KSW’s
non-technical project organizer.
He may or may not be
that squirrel.

Spy Emerson: freelance thinker, full-time hustler, international curator, subversion artist extraordinaire.

born in the rhythmic shadows of industry, spy's childhood toys were big machines, and trains rocked her to sleep at night. she found her first dead body at the age of 6, and from then on, fear was a caged animal. spy has traveled nationally and internationally with her HEY-HEY, spreading artistic say-so from NYC to prague. she began as a club kid at the infamous limelight and eventually opened the bedroom gallery, a short lived conceptual art space. now she is a proud member of KSW. You can check out her multi-media & medium work here.

Stephen Rademaker's fascination with wheels and water has brought him and KSW together. He is known for his abilities as a master fort builder, unaffiliated flag waver, breakdown maintenance specialist, and an artistic kindler. Lesser known affiliations include Northwest Boy Choir, Seattle Peace Theatre, Nana & Pappy's Farm volunteer, and Extra Action Auxiliary member. As a Bay Area location specialist, Stephen has provided countless hours as a conductor/safety engineer on various vessels. Collage educated, plumber, electrician, opportunist, and General Contractor for hire.

Rachel Riggin's dairy and soybean farm upbringing gave her an early appreciation for old farm equipment. When she first laid eyes on the Case steam engine she was hooked. Currently, she's a textile artist in Oakland and recently transplanted from San Francisco; she is still adjusting to life with a car. Rachel's degree is in photography, however the IRS has known her to earn her way as a graphic designer, factory worker, professional gift wrapper and envelope licker. She has a gift & talent for organization and lucid dreaming. She is rather certain that she was Japanese in a past life.

Having attained the status of sainthood for her tolerance of all things Vennerbeck, Karen Scholer is familiar with steam powered horseless carriages, and heavy pieces of metal and rust adorning her back yard. One of her fondest (steam) pleasures is piloting the 30 ft. steam launch S.L. Narragansett. Usually associated with the biotech and semiconductor industries, Karen has a natural bent towards technical accuracy. She is widely known for her skills at directing the connection of the truck and boat trailer using only hand signals, frequently reverting to the use of a single finger!

Dick Vennerbeck, self-proclaimed old man of the group, was born in Rhode Island with a recessive steam gene. As a boy, Dick remembers visiting grandparents on one of the last steam passenger trains. That experience stuck in his mind and was to forever shape his later life. He served 4 years in the Navy and later his professional career bloomed in the high tech sector of the semiconductor industry, wherein he developed processes to make now ubiquitous computer chips. To decompress from the frantic pace of the tech sector he would revert to early engineering in his spare time, building two full size steam powered launches and several steam vehicles. His artistic talent was gained from his mother (a RISD student) and remains totally undeveloped.

Jamie Vaida born the same day as Mozart, creates beautiful, often functional, pieces of art from recycled metal, glass, & stone. He begins simply, with discarded materials, often from a scrap yard. He looks for beauty and shape in a given piece in its found form, then twists and bends the material to bring out the full potential hidden within that shape. Vaida's work is reminiscent of the style promoted by Gustav Stickley during the "Arts & Crafts" movement.

He’s had work commissioned and shown/installed in galleries and homes in Aspen, Denver, Grand Junction, Telluride and Taos. He’s been a photographer, landscape designer, and artist for Yahoo! Originally from Colorado, Jaimie’s now based in Oakland at NIMBY. In conjunction with KSW he’s undertaking the Insect Carousel and, maybe a steam sauna! You can check out his website.

Calamity Julie is KSW's Volunteer Coordinator. Her background is in dance and performance studies. She's studied collective healing dance narratives, notably the Tarantella, as well as critiques of Monarchism in puppet theater in the 17th through late 20th centuries, and in the post Civil War territorial American West. When not coordinating, spinning fire, welding, or spending agility training quality time with her three German Shepherds, she designs movement modules for video games.