A Sculptor, Jack Nortz

My name is Jack Nortz and I am the lead sculptor at MTM Recognition.  I have never written a blog or read a blog in my life so I am winging it from the get-go.   

I have always been a sports nut since I can remember.  I started playing football at age 11, and branched out from there into track, basketball, and gymnastics.  Now you may be wondering what sports have to do with sculpting.  I’ll get there eventually so stick with me.  I went to college at Brockport State in upstate New York and had every intention of becoming a gym teacher, but ended up with a degree in Health Education and soon found out that teaching school wasn’t for me.  I got a job coaching gymnastics in my home town of Syracuse, New York and in four years, our gym produced a female gymnast that almost made the 1976 Olympic team.  Yeah, that makes me old. 

The Olympics were to be held in Montreal, Canada – about a six hour drive away.  Several of us coaches decided to go.  The Games were amazing! What a happening. Just to be there was a thrill.  Aside from the Games, I met a lot of coaches from around the country.  One of them would be my future wife, but that is a completely different story.  One non – gymnastics day in Montreal we went to the Montreal Expo.  It was kind of a world fair thing.  It was there that I saw a wood carved sculpture that would have a great influence on my future life.  It was a bear holding a stump over its head and it was actually a weightlifting trophy.  I thought it was coolest thing I had ever seen!  It was then the thought of learning to be a wood carver really started to get me excited.