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Member, International Sculpture Center, Kinetic Society

Donald Gerola grew up fascinated with applied science, and studied Physics at The University of Dayton, Ohio. He mentored under his stepfather, William Borland, Chief of Materials for the stricken World Trade Centers, from whom he got his penchant for steel. All his sculptures are made from it. But one doesn’t suddenly become its master.

His first opportunities were in painting graphic super murals. He then pioneered a signature sand fresco technique on canvas and board. These are hung from Manhattan apartments and offices to homes in the Hamptons. His studios in Engleside, NJ and New York City increased his reputation among artists and patrons, produced steady income, and underwrote bolder explorations. These interactions exposed him to Eastern philosophies of Buddhism and Feng Shui, which subtly figure in much of his work.

It wasn’t until 1980 that Don completed his first monumental sculpture. This fountain redirected water flows and shot jets of flaming gas and laser beams as directed by an early programmable controller. A New Orleans jury deemed it the first of its kind. Then came two 25 foot mobiles that were the centerpieces of the Washington, D.C. and New York International Art Expos, one of which found its way into a corporate atrium. With these works exhibiting motion began Gerola’s studies into kinesis.

Meanwhile, Gerola personally renovated a gatekeeper’s house, on a mill race for a historic water wheel in Milford, PA, into an indoor and outdoor gallery. The Water Street Sculpture Garden grew over 14 years as a bona fide tourist attraction of its own showcasing innovative landscape architecture, modern paintings, steel sculpture, and water systems. More importantly, his Pennsylvania excursion brought him closer to Tannersville and sources of steel. Many pieces were fabricated there.

His initial small steel pieces froze motion. He began to scale them up to reach upward from ground to sky. Once aloft, the tops wanted to play in the wind, and so his “Aerometer” did. A succession of intimate and monumental statics and kinetics followed. Some found a temporary home on loan at nearby Sussex Community College. Other ideas lie unfulfilled among hundreds of sketches and workbench models.

Intense concentration on remodeling led to a series of post modern deconstructivist painting and sculptures, such as the “Keyhole” in which there are few straight lines. These eventually translated into components of more elaborate kinetic pieces. Studies >