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At age 16, Robert Olszewski was already winning awards for his drawings and
paintings at local art shows. This early success led him to
pursue an education in art at Indiana University of
Pennsylvania. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in art
education, married, and moved to southern California in the same
year. There, he painted in his free time while teaching at a
local art center. He had his first one-man show in Los Angeles
at the age of only 27. He was introduced to the world of
miniatures after building a dollhouse for his daughter. After 11
years, Mr. Olszewski pursued miniature figurative work
full-time.
Within 1 year, his
work in miniatures was receiving national attention. In 1979, he
joined Goebel, for which he co-founded the Goebel Miniature
Studios. Until 1994, he oversaw the development of the
modeling and painting studios and watched the company grow from
4 painters to 65 painters in a studio numbering only 95.
In 1993, Mr.
Olszewski was named "International Collectible Artist of the
Year" . After leaving Goebel and forming his own studio, Mr.
Olszewski was commissioned to create sculptures for the Walt
Disney Classics Collection, including one of the most sought
after sculptures:
Cinderella's Dress. In
1995, he began creating prototype miniatures for the
Enchanted Places line of sculptures. In 1998, Mr. Olszewski
received the "Distinguished Alumni Award" from his University in
Pennsylvania.
In 1998,
Olszewski Studios introduced a new line of Disney gift boxes
in the themes of Cinderella, Peter Pan, and Snow White. By
2000, the Studio returned to miniature figurines and released
the Disney Storytime Collection, a series of Disney
scenes, that when put together, will tell each story from
beginning to end. In 2002, the Olszewski studios began the
Main Street USA collection, designed to create Z scale
miniature sculptures of the entire Disneyland park. Mr.
Olszewski continued to work full time for the studio until 2003,
when it was announced that he would fall back to an oversight
position. The Main Street USA collection has been taken
over by Disneyland, and the Disney Storytime collection awaits a
manufacturer.
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