Gypsy Road Trip

Design and art are in David Griesmyer’s blood. He owns DG Welding and Design in Malta along the Muskingum River where he works on many creative metal projects. All his life, he has had a passion for art through drawing, painting, and fabrication.

When David was a child, he was fortunate to have a father who was also an artist. During church services, the best way to keep David quiet was to give him a drawing pad and a pencil. David still keeps many of those early drawings as sketching was the only thing he did artistically before 2014. Now sketches are the beginning of his sculptures.

While David spent his first seven years living outside Zanesville, most of his life has been spent traveling the world. When he came back to the United States, he settled in Florida and Georgia but frequently came back to the Morgan County/Zanesville area to visit family. He has deep ancestral roots there.

David gained experience in fabrication due to his position as a representative of a medical company where he repaired and fabricated medical instruments. However, his idea for designing with metal began at a stop light in Macon, Georgia. There in an empty parking lot a vision of people welding metal flashed through his mind.

It wasn’t long before David moved to Malta and opened his metal fabrication business in 2014 in a garage. His business has many facets from sculpture and fabrication to welding and custom design. When visiting his business recently, David and his brother, Will, who has a master’s in mechanical engineering, were designing furniture for Hocking College Hotel.

David’s first sculpture in 2014 even took him by surprise. He was taking welding classes at Washington County Career Center when one week he designed a sculpture of a welder, starting with his footprint and working up to his holding a welding torch and wearing a welding mask. Thus began his journey into making sculptures.

This sculptor’s goal would be to leave a lasting impression of the beauty of art in southeastern Ohio. His family is the most important thing in the world to him. He wants to leave a legacy so his children will have pride in their family and community.

A special dream that has captured his attention is building an Art Corridor that will be the largest outdoor art exhibit in the world. Right now Switzerland has an art corridor that stretches for 65 miles. David, the artistic director, is aiming for one that will stretch 230 miles and perhaps farther in southeastern Ohio.

His creative mind uses scrap metal or metal from Waterford Tank in Beverly to design most of his projects. While David still plans to produce some of the sculptures along the way, he is hoping others will do their part to expand this project over the years. Art that is already present along the way will certainly be used.

The first exhibit was put in place in 2018 along Ohio 176 near the Morgan County Fairgrounds. David donated this “School of Fish,” a metal sculpture of three fish that are 90-feet long and 15-feet high. Under each fish there are 16,000 pounds of concrete to hold the sculpture in place.

Sculptures will highlight events that are special to a particular area and tell their history. Since hunting is one big attraction in southeastern Ohio, his next giant project will be a 15′ buck and a deer with two fawn. David wants to provide people with access to art, culture and educational experiences as well as bring tourists into the area.

So many ideas come to David’s mind for future sculptures such as a giant rhinoceros for The Wilds, or a girl with an umbrella for the Gale Garden. Recently, the Cleveland Ballet contacted him to make a ballerina for their theater. There’s no stopping his dreams for making beautiful things.

At this time there are eight artistic creations that are part of Ohio Art Corridor. They include David’s sculpture, the murals in Circleville, a Human Rights Garden created by the students of Portsmouth, and the Flight of the Hawk Sculpture Park in Lancaster.

While this idea has so many possibilities, community support is the key to its success. Expectations are that the project will take five to ten years to complete, and hopefully will never be completed but added to over the years.

David’s work can be seen in McConnelsville across from the Morgan County Fairgrounds as well as in front of the Morgan County Library. Look for some lovely ballerinas in the window of Center Stage Performing Arts Studio in Malta.

Keep your eyes drawn to the Ohio Art Corridor for its exciting future under the watchful eye of sculptor David Griesmyer.

Sometimes our choice is not between right and wrong, rather it is between good, better, and best. ~David Griesmyer

DG Welding and Design is located in Malta, Ohio along the beautiful Muskingum River at 1252 NW Front Street.