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Shuttered factories, abandoned warehouses and boarded up store fronts are being re-purposed as galleries and performance spaces by people with passion and vision. Art From the Ground Up was created to provide a showcase for some of the most innovative members of Pittsburgh’s emerging arts community.00000176-e6f7-dce8-adff-f6f7706f0000Art From the Ground Up is hosted by Bob Studebaker and is a monthly series highlighting small grass roots arts organizations and individual artists that take non-traditional approaches to the creation, presentation, and even the definition of art.Know an organization Bob should check out? Email him with your suggestions.

Finding Beauty In Simplicity, Bones And All

Courtesy photo

When Zak Kruszynski came across the phrase “bones and all,” he thought it got to the root of what he wanted to accomplish with a woodworking business.

That is, to reuse materials — often totally discarded — as often as possible, and to try to use every bit to reduce waste.

"Also, I thought it had a great ring to it,” he said.

Kruszynski's parents built a house while he was growing up, and he said he “spent two years running around a construction site” building things out of scraps. Later, when he felt the need to express himself artistically, these types of materials were what he felt comfortable working with.

Inspired by the American arts and crafts movement, he now creates simple but highly functional pieces via his workshop Bones and All.

"There’s a style and beauty to that simplicity,” Kruszynski said.

He enjoys collecting discarded materials that interest him and then seeing what it could be. He likes to “let the materials do part of the work,” influencing what the final results become.

See some of Kruszynski's work at his website, www.bonesandall.com.

Bob is a host for JazzWorks. Bob has been working in different areas of the radio industry for 33 years. He thinks “public radio is a forum for ideas and entertainment unavailable on commercial radio and that makes it indispensable.” Bob is a lifelong Pittsburgher who married and raised both of his children in his home city.