Local sculptor Steven Lustig creates beautiful, fluid, figurative work. It fascinates the viewer because it balances conflicting realms so effortlessly: Timeless yet futuristic, human yet surreal, mass that moves so gracefully through space. Truly, you can’t stop looking at it. Fortunately for us, we will see a lot more of it! Steven and his wife Tina continue to execute on their long-term vision. That vision addresses the realities of the art business, embraces technology and keeps young artists engaged in the classic art form.
The Vision Started Early
Getting to this point wasn’t direct, but it was no accident. Steven started drawing at age five. By his teens, he was creating detailed anatomical drawings. He knew by then he was going to be an artist and sculptor. He studied graphic design at University of Illinois, specializing in medical illustration and biomechanics. Everything he ingested and produced in college pertained to human anatomy, movement and structure. These disciplines gave him sharp insight into graceful athletic motion. You can see it in his work. To this day, his hired models don’t only strike poses – they flow through movements. His focus on anatomy and biomechanics also provided him with a successful business as an illustrator for the life science and medical device industries.
Example from Steven’s college years 
Example from Steven’s life sciences years
His Vision Served Him Then and Now
Steven saw the connection between art and computing in 1979 and embraced it. This made him highly adaptable and differentiated him as a medical illustrator, artist and entrepreneur. He combined computer graphics and medical illustration, long before there was Photoshop. Since then, Steven has incorporated computer aided design/machining and 3D scanning into his artistic process. On the business side, Steven’s commerce-enabled website is based on ArtCloud’s management tools. Many artists lack the future vision to appreciate how much these business technologies can transform their business.
Anatomy of a Sculptor
Art was not his day job while he acquired his education, raised a family, taught art at colleges and started a biomedical illustration company. Art was his night obsession. He was prolific over those years, drawing frequently (over 10,000 drawings so far!) and developing ideas for stone sculptures.
Fifteen years ago, Steven transitioned to stone carving. The first step in that transition was a substantial undertaking! A stone carving studio requires expensive, specialized machinery and infrastructure, like that of a small factory. To meet these requirements, Steven partnered with his friend and sculptor Jay Honig to create The Stone Sculptors’ Guild of Orange County (SSGOC). SSGOC is a shared studio space for twelve sculptors and is located at Chiarini Marble and Stone in the Santa Ana Arts District. It is one of few facilities of its kind in California.
Since then, Steven has gained prestigious gallery representation and regularly sold sculptures throughout the country. In the last few years, Steven has sold upwards of twenty stone sculptures ranging in value from $2000 to $25,000.
The Professional Stage
Tina Lustig has the business and technical expertise that landed her leadership positions at IBM and FileNet. She retired from IBM in December to become Steven’s full-time business manager. This was part of the Lustigs’ long-term vision. The net result is Steven has more time to create while Tina deploys the professional activities that so many artists lack the time, money or awareness to realize. Her initial activities addressed the changing art market and exposed Steven’s work to many different, influential channels such as online marketplaces, art consultants, and corporate art purchasing and leasing companies. The Lustigs also work with online galleries that take Steven’s work to art shows across the country and sell it in their booths. “Using the skills acquired working in technology companies, I’ve been able to free Steven up to explore the depths of his creativity which was not possible being an artist who also runs his business,” says Tina.
Other professional activities include:
Their sculpture garden is now a showcase.
The Lustigs transformed their Huntington Beach backyard into a sculpture garden, which some clients say is more like a museum. It features over a dozen of Steven’s pieces, which are regularly rotated out to galleries and clients. What better way to demonstrate the visual beauty of the works than a real-life setting? Furthermore, an artist’s showroom is a necessity given the reality of the gallery business. Physical galleries are struggling to stay open. Now the Lustigs have an attractive, well-staged venue for prospects who are passing through to art destinations such as Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, the Coachella Valley and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Future-oriented galleries.
Online art marketplaces such as Saatchi Art are the new normal and the Lustigs were early adopters. The Lustigs will consider physical galleries if those businesses take the time to understand the art (often by visiting the studio at Chiarini or the Lustigs’ sculpture garden), have active social media operations and sell on online marketplaces designed for galleries such as 1stdibs.com. Many brick-and-mortar galleries are jeopardizing their future by not incorporating social media or web commerce. Some galleries are threatened by artists who actively sell online. Tina also assures galleries that she pays keen attention to price parity across all sales channels.
Steven makes the point that his social media operation is millennial- designed and millennial-approved, thanks to his daughter, who also developed the brand identity and marketing materials. Indeed, Steven’s art is the family business.
A publishing strategy for Steven’s drawings.
Art publishing, that process of licensing works and making them available to retail buyers as prints, has been around for decades. The Lustigs are working with an art publisher as another business channel to earn royalty income and expose their works to budget buyers.
Mentoring and Education
Steven’s newfound productivity does not prevent him from giving back. Another component to his long-term plan: keep a rare artform alive through the mentoring of young people. Stone sculptors are uncommon these days due to equipment costs, limited fabrication facilities and the elimination of stone carving education programs. Steven is one of very few in Southern California who is passing on that knowledge. He recently hired assistants to help in stone cutting and finishing while they learn from his deep expertise. Assistants also give him more time to design while reducing the physical demands of sculpture. Michelangelo likened the work of a stone sculptor to being a manual laborer.
the labors of stone carving
Mentoring is in Steven’s DNA. You sense it within minutes of talking to him. He is generous with his time as he throws open the door to his guild, shares his processes, his mission for art education and his support for his fellow guild members. He speaks glowingly of his mentors. His favorite mentor, a high school art teacher, stands out because he opened the door to Steven’s creativity and showed Steven what he had inside.
Teaching is also in Steven’s DNA. In 2015, he earned his Master’s in STEAM Education from University of San Diego. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math. The goals of STEAM are 1) give STEM students more creative and interpretive skills and 2) attract more students to STEM by integrating an arts component. Steven says that schools that build big STEM programs and expect students to sign up en masse are missing the point. The arts can be the gateway drug to get young people interested in STEM. Steven is an early case in that point.
The Future of Stone Sculpture
Stone sculpture may be less common, but Steven’s vision for its future is bright. Less supply gives the product additional cachet and that pleases affluent buyers. Less supply has also made the medium unusual or exotic. The economics of scarcity means Steven can hold his prices and maintain his artistic independence. Since his sculptures are contemporary interpretations of classical art, they blend well with modern artworks that are selling very well in major cities such as Los Angeles, Miami and New York. Something else that brightens the future of the artform: The cyclical nature of art. Sculpture had a great run in the 1970’s. It is destined to make a comeback. There is evidence of that right now in commercial spaces. Steven is ready for it. He has access to the highest quality stone, the most current fabrication and CNC technologies, and his artistic skill keeps developing. That sounds like a great future!
Sells to Chicago too!
Genius I Tell Ya’
Love You Steven & Tina!
So Amazing❣️