My education is in the Arts and Sciences, with degrees in Electronics and a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with a major in sculpture. My interests turned to developing products that relate to people, how they interact, and how they learn. I started Maecker and Company in 1984 to design, manufacture and market toys. I developed educational materials and supplied them with my toys, and became accepted in the Science / Education industry for my high quality toys and fun, informative materials. After leaving the industry for several years to restore two homes in western New York, I am now restarting the business, and have rekindled past relationships as well as formed new ones. I'm proud to say that my company is now 'Partnering with NASA' to develop interactive educational CDs! NASA and I both have high expectations for the great potentials in store!

Coming to Villa Maria was the stepping stone to a way of life I would not trade for anything- making new things- and looking at the world in a fresh, new way. My eyes opened to the possibilities of studying Art History and Architecture in London, England. Then I returned to UB and worked for Duayne Hatchett, making his sculptures. I finished my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with the SUNY Empire State Program as apprentice to sculptor Joel Shapiro in New York, where I worked in galleries in SOHO hanging shows.

It was then I started making toy airplanes, as an unexpected extension of my sculptures- they were my interpretations of what William Hogarth defined as 'the Curves of Beauty', back in 1750. He defined beauty as a line with small arc to a large arc- and included one in every portrait he painted. I saw the line in three dimensions- as the edge of a piece of paper- then folded paper in half and flexed it, making two curves of beauty- two more creases made it into what looked like a paper airplane- and, of course, it flew!

Seymour Knox became my patron, who helped me start in business making toys. I had the honor of my sculptures sitting next to Louise Nevelson's in his office on the 37th floor of the Marine Midland building (now HSBC). In the next few years, I made a half million toys, sold through Museums all over the world-

People make Art for a lot of different reasons- some just to be busy making something they have full control over, without pressures of the outside world- sometimes to describe emotions, sometimes for no reason at all…

I make things for a number of reasons, for different purposes. Somehow, I like to make my own version of almost everything- maybe as a personal challenge to see if I can..?

The things I make and call art are usually based on an appreciation of beauty- I analyzed beauty for my own perception of it- and categorized beauty in seven different ways. One of those ways is function. There is beauty in something that just works well- whether by accident , or the result of years or generations of effort. There is honesty in function. It either works, or it doesn't.

To share my appreciation of function, I make toys- that 'do' something- and so, they have to do it well-

What's given away as 'toys' today are often really not toys- they are little sculptures that represent images and concepts intended to make you think of a product or service- really little advertisements, sort of prostitution by the artists envolved- they do it in order to make a living.

The toys I make all work- and work well. And so, they are inherently beautiful, even if they didn't have any of the other forms of beauty…but, then of course, sometimes they do.

The sculptures I make are really variations on beauty, function, and relevance to our lives- if they're made from discarded window sashes, they carry a message- even if the message is that they used to be what was considered good and functional in an earlier age- and have outlived their original purpose…there is the appreciation of the effort someone put into making them- man shaping his world- out of wood, rock, etc..and now its usefulness has been judged to be less significant- and replaced by new 'high tech'. In our throw away world, we often miss what's good- after we've replaced with something else.

The windows I made into sculptures have transitioned into a new purpose- they are based on cadences- visual rhythms that we may or may not perceive at first- but, they are there- The piece 'Cow' is a static rhythm, perfect alignment, all in sync- with a few out of order 'barbs' that exist, but are not significant enough to interrupt the overall rhythm of the piece. They remain to represent the earlier attachment to other 'parts of the whole' in their earlier function.

I like to make these pieces fast- putting things together in a physical way, without second-guessing if it's right or not. I save up a bunch of things and when the urge comes to assemble them into a piece of art, just do it. I enjoy that more than planning meticulously, sanding and fitting things together in a precise way that must be controlled- I do that with things I put into production, and make in mass production. The freedom of making a sculpture from material you don't worry about the value of, and whether it's 'just right' is a great thing! What matters is the result- and being happy with the end result can be a reward in itself.

The painting of 133 Central took three days, and though it was fun, it was nerve wracking, the longer it took- one mistake and it'd be wrecked…I painted it in a way that I thought they would have done it back in 1880- partly out of reverence for the house, and partly respect for the original artist that drew it- I hope he'd like it…!

Art has to be honest to be good.

Bill Maecker