Vince Houston is possibly the only man in mid-Missouri with a 13-foot palm tree made of steel sitting in his yard.
“I’ve [also] got a velociraptor [at home] now,” Houston said. “I had [it displayed in] Liberty, Missouri for about a year, [but] his time was up, so it was time for him to come home.”
Houston’s home in Millersburg, Missouri is surrounded by artwork from his prolific career as a steel sculptor. The palm tree and velociraptor are both Houston’s own creations, as are the deer and horse sculptures that reside on his property.
Houston said most of the people who buy his art are “on the whimsical side,” allowing him to construct an array of fantastic creatures for clients and art showcases across the state. In Columbia, Houston recently made quite the impression with “Sparky,” a new velociraptor sculpture celebrated at First Fridays Art Walk in the North Village Arts District (NVAD) on Sept. 2.
Tootie Burns, president of the NVAD board, said Houston’s creation was an instant hit with community members who have visited Sparky’s installation site by Cafe Berlin on Park Street.
“Sparky started eliciting responses immediately, and I mean, within minutes of his installation,” Burns said. “I was down there when he was installed, and I saw cars slowing [down] and people pointing and yelling out the window.”
Although Houston’s current artistic medium is steel, his passion for art was set in motion nearly 50 years ago. Born on May 20, 1958, Houston grew up with artistic influence all around him.
“My father was actually a teacher at Columbia College, so I had an opportunity to meet with some really interesting characters — teachers, [art] instructors at the time,” Houston said. “[I] studied under them, and it really vaulted me into a position where I just felt very comfortable [with art].”
As a teenager, Houston started glassblowing, the practice of heating and shaping molten glass to create a wide variety of artwork. Over the next several years, he would make pieces ranging from wedding cake toppers to animal figurines. In his 20s, Houston took a sabbatical from his education at Columbia College to travel across the country in a motor home and sell his glasswork.
“This was back during the Carter administration,” Houston said. “That’s when arts and crafts were all the rage, and it was fun.”
After touring the country in his motor home, Houston settled down in Millersburg with his wife, Joyce. They met in Columbia while Houston was attending Columbia College.
“She was a little sister at a fraternity on the MU campus,” Houston said. “Me and a couple other guys from Columbia College … crashed [a] party [her fraternity threw]. That’s where I met Joyce … And she found out where I was working, so she actually came and found me … I crashed her party and then she crashed my workplace.”
Together, the pair raised three children. It was around this time that Houston decided to make the switch from glass art to steel sculptures.
“I wanted something a little more permanent,” Houston said. “The glass was kind of fun, [but I] got burned out … When you’re making glass, you’re staying in one particular spot with your arms up … and it was starting to get me in the shoulders.”
Houston has also worked as a laser technician, a bank teller and a plumber in addition to his work as an artist. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, however, he has sculpted full time.
Now, aside from sculpting large-scale pieces in his studio, Houston enjoys spending time with his three grandchildren, Eva, Nora and Mia. Houston said one of the best parts of sculpting is the reaction he gets from children who interact with pieces like Sparky.
“We’re talking between three and six years old — they can see [my sculptures] a half a block away and they’re dragging mom [over],” Houston said. “That is worth everything.”
Lisa Bartlett, a local artist and secretary of the NVAD board, said the Sept. 2 art walk encouraged kids to visit the arts district and engage with Sparky.
“We had the Columbia Art League set up a kid’s activity, which was ‘Create Your Own Dinosaur’ to go with Vince’s,” Bartlett said. “It was just a really festive atmosphere.”
After a wave of resoundingly positive feedback regarding Sparky’s debut, Houston admits this installation may be his “last hurrah” before he retires.
“I … definitely wanted to do this [installation],” Houston said. “[But] who knows? Sparky may not be my last big one. I might just end up doing a couple more just despite it, you know? We’ll see.”
Edited by Egan Ward | eward@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Audrey Mueller and Julia Williams | jwilliams@themaneater.com
