Bruce Rosenbaum


Bruce Rosenbaum is an American artist and designer known for his creative Steampunk design and work both in his home, The Steampunk House, and produced by his company, ModVic. He has been called the steampunk guru by the Wall Street Journal and steampunk evangelist by Wired Magazine.

Biography

Early life

Rosenbaum grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, attending Marblehead High School, then getting his bachelor's degree in Business at UMASS Amherst. After graduating UMASS, Rosenbaum worked as a Department Manager for Lord and Taylor in Stamford, Connecticut where he met his wife Melanie. Rosenbaum later attended Duke University and received his MBA. After graduating Duke University, he worked for Sara Lee Direct in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and then worked for other direct marketing agencies. Rosenbaum, along with his wife, Melanie, started a direct-mail marketing business, N2N Direct, in the 1990s.

Design career

Rosenbaum and his wife started ModVic, a Victorian-home restoration company, in 2007. Combining original Victorian design with modern functionality and convenience, the couple completed one major project before the economy's downturn, but then refocused the business on integrating new technologies and appliances into restored period objects. Today, ModVic is a marketed as a steampunk art and design company, repurposing antiques and salvaged objects into functional and useful residential and commercial items.
Along with producing commissioned pieces for clients, Rosenbaum incorporates his design perspective into the family home in Sharon, Massachusetts, popularly known as "Steampunk House". Their home is also noted as the only functional steampunk art home in the world and has been featured on MTV's Extreme Cribs.
Rosenbaum's projects include his personal computer workstation housed in a Victorian pump organ, a 6-foot mechanical whale for a hotel in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and a late 1800s bandsaw repurposed as a conference table and workstation.
Rosenbaum is also the Chairman of Sharon Historic Commission, Sharon, MA, and a Trustee of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, Waltham, Massachusetts.
In addition, with Dr. Ashleigh Hillier, associate Psychology Professor at UMASS Lowell, Rosenbaum has also created a 9-week program called Steampunkinetics: Building Art into Science for kids on the autism spectrum. The program uses 'Janusian Thinking' and other creative problem solving techniques to turn STEM into STEAM into STEAMPUNK.

Events

2010