Our mantra has always been Prayer, Patience and Perseverance,” says Diane Robb, managing partner of Kevin Robb Studios. From the time of Kevin Robb’s massive stroke 21 years ago, the faith in, and practice of, those three principles have guided the family through unchartered waters.
‘Unchartered,’ because Kevin Robb’s communications to his family and staff are virtually intuitive—gestures, grunts, or the occasional uttered word transfer his intentions and instructions. His hearing and cognition are good. “He knows what being said to him,” Diane said, “it’s just that he is unable to speak all the words that are in his head. Kevin can neither read nor write. He recognizes individual letters but not letters put together to form words.
“On the computer, he sometimes will type a few letters and then use Google Search. Somehow, he comes up with what he is looking for. When he creates with SketchUp [3D design software] he uses the mouse to form different lines, curves, etc… Again, we can’t figure out how he taught himself this.”
A successful national and international sculptor, Kevin Robb cannot speak more than 100 words. “When he wants to talk about one of our galleries or a commission we’re working on, he’ll pull out the atlas and point to the state and city. We don’t know how he does this either. The only thing we can surmise is that it’s a visual process, like charades at its best,” Diane said.
“When he had his stroke in 2004, he had no preexisting conditions. He was only 49 years old, perfectly healthy, and I walked into the studio one day and found him down on the floor. I called 911, and when they got here, they immediately put him on life support. He was on life support for 13 days, but then he decided that he wasn’t ready to go yet.
“I can’t tell you how many of those days we were told to say our last goodbyes. He bounced around to a couple of rehab hospitals for a number of months and when he finally was able to come home, he really had no cognition and no way of communicating. We didn’t know what we had on our hands. You know, it was like ‘What do we do now?’”
Several weeks later, Diane’s brother and the Robb’s daughter decided that perhaps getting Kevin into the studio shop would spark some awareness in him. “The minute he crossed that threshold into the studio,” Diane said, “life came into his eyes. It was the first time I saw life in his eyes since his stroke, and I said, ‘This is his recovery.’
Kevin couldn’t communicate at all, and Diane didn’t know exactly what to do. But one day, he walked throughout his shop and put his hands on everything. “He massaged each and everything in that shop—the sheets of stainless steel, the tools, the grinders, the welder, just everything,” Diane said. “From then on, he seemed to know everything about that shop and his business—but nothing else. It was about three years before he finally figured out who I was. Until then, I was a little more than a nice caregiver.”
Kevin and Diane were raised in Boulder and were high school sweethearts at Boulder High School. They were married in 1975. “Kevin started at Metro State College but then he spent a few years working on the family farm outside of Limon,” Diane said. “But farming life wasn’t for him, and he came home one day and said, ‘DD’—Kevin calls Diane ‘DD,’ (pronounced DeeDee)—’I can’t live without art,’ and I looked at him, and I said, ‘Who’s Art?’ Kevin made a promise that he would make it as an artist, and I supported him.”
The Robbs moved to Denver, where Kevin attended the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. “Kevin always said, ‘If you’re going to be a contemporary sculptor, you have to know the painting and drawing fundamentals. You have to know how to draw the human body, you have to know all the basics, and that will take you to the contemporary realm.’
“Phil Steele was the founder of Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, and he really inspired Kevin. Kevin just couldn’t get enough of Phil’s teachings. He just soaked it up. When he got out of school, he was a graphic artist, but he hated it, and he was miserable, but he had to make a living. One more time, he comes home and sits me down and says, ‘DD, this isn’t working,’ and I agreed with him. I said, do what you love. You’re a fabulous artist. We will figure it out.”
Diane has a master’s in healthcare administration and worked in that field until Kevin had his stroke in 2004, at which time she quit working and took over the business as managing partner.
After 50 years of marriage, Diane has a keen idea of what Kevin wants to say; she is his “interpreter.” When he agrees with what she says, he nods his head; when he disagrees, he grunts and shakes his head. He expressed his sense of humor during our interview and is obviously aware of his surroundings.
In the shop, Kevin works with studio manager Chris Andrews, to position and finalize assembly of structure elements.
Diane says that Kevin might have an idea to alter the assembly of pieces. “Chris will say, ‘Kevin, that’s not what we’re making.’ We have a pulley system in the shop, and Chris will raise up the heavy stainless steel pieces and start turning and twisting them until Kevin sees exactly what he wants and hollers, ‘Stop! Stop! Stop!’ And then Chris will tack weld the pieces together, and off they go on that.” In the end, it’s Kevin’s vision that determines the final construction.
Wheat Ridge’s Discovery Park, stands 20’ tall.
PHOTO BY KEN LUTES
“We spent some time in Japan in the 1980s, and Kevin fell in love with Japanese calligraphy,” Diane said. “He came back so inspired that his sculptures started curving. It’s interesting that sense his stroke, he has really gotten into the curves.” Many sculptures have the word ‘Dancing’ in their titles, such as the one created for the new Lutheran Hospital, titled, “Dancing in the Sun.”
Diane says that Kevin is a gentleman. “All of his work is uplifting and nonpolitical. There’s never anything dark about any of his sculptures.w He makes sure they’re very uplifting.
Kevin Robb’s sculptures are collected in 48 of the 50 states. “If you know anybody in North and South Dakota, let me know,” Diane joked. “His sculptures are in Norway, France, Japan, Australia, Mexico and Canada. We ship the majority. Once in a while we’ll do an installation. We did the one at Lutheran. We did the installation in Discovery Park. But usually, we just ship them out, with instructions.”
Diane says that to this day, Kevin supports the family through his art. After 21 years since Kevin’s stroke, the mantra “Prayer, Patience and Perseverance” has served them well.
Learn more about Kevin Robb and explore his website: kevinrobb.com.
