Bob Arbogast is one of many talented artists residing in Marsh Creek. His path through the Art World was chosen in his teens and his training did not teach him the fundamentals of painting; instead, it taught him how to strive for new ways of expression. First at the University of Maryland, studying with innovative artists like Anne Truitt and Sam Gilliam, followed by graduate work at the University of California, Irvine, which has a conceptually based Art Program. It was in California that Bob began making multimedia installations.

Unfortunately, for Bob, high-brow conceptual art doesn’t pay the bills. Five years after graduating from Irvine, his art career took a detour. Bob went back to school to get a degree in Computer Science. Information Technology became his new identity, and art making was shelved for 25-years.

After retiring in 2017, Bob began making art again. He began with trying to paint the view of the marsh behind his house. It was not good. Many, many bad paintings followed, but Bob was determined to become a realist watercolorist in order to exhibit in Saint Augustine. Of course, the urge to experiment never left the artist and he made conceptual and activist art along side his realistic painting.

In the past six years, Bob has exhibited in dozens of exhibitions, nationally and internationally, and has won many awards. He even has one painting in the permanent collection of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art.

If you would like to see any of Bob’s work in person, he currently has one painting on display at the St. Augustine Arts Center.

And … one of Bob’s experimental pieces will be on display at the Ormond Beach Art Museum. An opening reception for the exhibit is on Thursday, September 17 from 5:30 to 8:00. Light bites will be served along with a cash bar. The exhibition goes until November 30.