Gulf Coast Art Festivals Along the Gulf of Mexico

His love of art must have begun in the womb when his mother attended classes before his birth.  She was studying metal sculpture and one of his favorite pieces still is the small metal casting of his hand as an infant.  After art school, she set up her studio and pursued a career as a textile designer while young Kent played among the looms and the yarn.  His father earned his living as a musician and as a painter and often Kent traveled with him to jobs, where he saw the grand sculptures adorning public buildings and parks. By the time he was twelve, he knew every inch of every sculpture in every public space in Sweden.

Kent’s love of animals began early in life as he constantly studied the drawings and paintings of artist Roger Tory Peterson, whose Field Guides were published and sold all over the world.  Kent bought his first Guide at twelve with earnings from his paper route.  When Roger Tory Peterson died in 1996, his widow commissioned Kent to create a monument, which now stands outside the penguin display at Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut as a continued reminder of their friendship and the early influence Peterson had on Ullberg.  Kent also analyzed the Remington Arms Calendars, which displayed the work of Bob Kuhn and other wildlife artists. At 86, Bob Kuhn lives in Arizona and remains a close friend of Kent Ullberg.

As a young man Kent spent a great deal of time in the local museum and gallery, where curator Björn Wennberg encouraged him to attend art school. Kent also developed an interest in taxidermy as he studied the animal displays and later earned his living as a taxidermist.  After studying at the Swedish Konstfack School of Art in Stockholm and at museums in Germany, the Netherlands and France, Kent found a job as a taxidermist and safari guide in Botswana, Africa, with the help of Wennberg.  There he studied animals and the people and became involved in designing, building and raising funds for the Botswana National Museum and Art Gallery.  He served as its curator for four of his seven years in Africa.  Kent could have remained happily in Botswana for the rest of his life, but he had to pursue the art and the career that was within him and he knew that was only possible in America.  He remembers, “I left with heavy heart, but my dream was beyond that place.”

Kent always loved sculpture.  He developed distaste for stone carving as he polished work for other artists during his early years and began to favor metal. Kent explained, “I love the feel of clay.  It is alive in the hands, but clay is infinitely changeable.  Over time clay can be removed and replaced to change the integrity of the piece.  The same is true of oils.  With metal sculpture you begin with clay and translate it into cast metal. You model a piece and then make a mold and cast the metal.” 

As an art student Kent says he was “not the best student and not the worst.”  He was somewhere “…in the middle.  Talent is a small part of it.”  But he proudly declares, “I am the only one in my class who earns a living as an artist.  I wanted it more than they did.  My grandfather always encouraged me to follow my dream and to make it happen.  He said to believe in yourself.  To want to succeed more than anything on earth and you can have it.”

This dream has produced an artist whose work has been shown all over the world, including the National Museum of Natural History in Stockholm, Sweden; the Exhibition Hall in Beijing, China; the Guildhall in London, U.K.; the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. and more.  Membership in prestigious art organizations from which he has received many outstanding awards include the National Academy, the National Sculpture Society, the National Academy of Western Art, the American Society of Marine Artists and the Society for Wildlife Art of the Nations. 

During his career Ullberg has produced more than 50 monuments and 250 smaller castings.  Among Ullberg’s immense sculptures are “Deinonychus Dinosaurs,” a 25-foot monument in Philadelphia; “American Eagle,” a 21-foot composition in Princeton, N.J.; and a 65-foot high installation for the Swedish Government Tele-Com Center in Stockholm. For the First National Center in Omaha, Nebraska, Ullberg produced an installation of epic size.  It involves 58 bronze and stainless steel geese with eight-foot wingspans lifting off from a downtown fountain and entering the urban landscape. The geese are attached to traffic light standards and buildings throughout downtown Omaha, ultimately entering the First National Center’s atrium. In addition, a heroic composition of a bronze wagon train created by Ed Fraughton and Blair Buswell spans a downtown park, driving a charging herd of Ullberg's larger-than-life bison on a journey throughout the downtown area.

Kent and Veerle Ullberg recently celebrated their twenty-eighth anniversary and her birthday during the same week.  His gift to her was an award-winning pendant designed by Peter Barr.  Peter’s wife Jo wanted to keep it for herself but acquiesced to Kent’s charm and Veerle’s passion for the piece.  Kent says he “enjoys buying work from fellow artists.”

Kent had studied only miles from Veerle’s home in Europe, but it was in Denver, Colorado, that they met.  Both played Scandinavian folk music with a band started by a mutual friend.  They married and opened the first Kent Ullberg gallery in Loveland, Colorado. They dreamed of living near the water, and had searched for a home in California and other places, but at that time could afford nothing they found.

Kent and Veerle drove to South Texas from Denver to visit friends and clients.  As so many people do they first saw the breathtaking skyline of Corpus Christi and the bay and then continued across the causeway to Padre Island.  It was love at first sight. Surrounded by water, they were even more excited to see a small sign that advertised a house for sale.  Immediately they contacted the realtor and found that the house was on the water, had a dock, and according to the realtor had “a little art studio above the garage.”  Kent added, “Prices weren’t so much back then.  The house had everything we wanted and we could afford it.”  Surely it was meant to be!

Kent and Veerle raised their two sons on Padre Island.  Son Robert is a nautical architect in Florida, where he designs yachts.  Their younger son was killed in an automobile accident on I 37 as he returned from San Antonio several years ago.  Their ten-year-old grandson is passionate about animals and wants to be a zoo director.  Kent lovingly says, “We have two boys again.”

Not far from the Ullberg home on Padre Island is Corpus Christi's Ullberg Park, dedicated and renamed in March of 2005.  There, "Windborne II," a bronze depicting two eagles in flight was installed as a memorial to the artist's long-time friend and neighbor, Joseph C. Ruszczyk, who passed away September 19, 2005. 

Also displayed is Ullberg’s bronze "The Journey's End," depicting two endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles returning to the beach where they were born to mate and lay eggs. The park and sculpture are intended to help educate the public about the struggling species.

Another love that Kent openly admits is seafood.  “I love seafood, but my very favorite would be fried oysters from Beulah’s in Port Aransas.”  He goes on to explain, “The pan fried oysters with shallot cream sauce are the best oysters in the world.”  Chef Guy Carmathan says that when Kent comes into the restaurant, “We have a few drinks and some oysters and a great time.  He’s a great guy!”  Chef Carmathan and Kent Ullberg joined forces several years ago to raise money for one of the many projects Kent supports.  “Kent brought over fifteen or so sculptures and I created a dish to go with each.  We had…I don’t like the word buffet.  We had a self- serve food offering.  We sold all the tickets and raised ten or twelve thousand dollars for a museum.”  Kent refers to the pair as “two artists.”  Guy says he thinks of himself as “more of a craftsman.”

With galleries in Corpus Christi and Loveland, shows and lectures all over the world, sculptures in numerous private collections and work in every major museum and city in the world, the Ullbergs have access to all the best places.  Kent says, “Its fun to go off to New York City or Paris, but of all the places in the world, I’d rather be right at home on Padre Island with the canals, the fishing, the people and my studio.  The best thing I could possibly do is work uninterrupted by telephones in my studio.  The busier we get the less creative time I have to spend.  Yes, I’d like to just work here for eternity.”