Bruce Rosenbaum
Steampunk ReImagineer, Artist, Designer and Founder ModVic LLC
4080 Main Street
Thorndike, MA 01079
781.784.0250
bruce@modvic.com
modvic.com 

I first became passionate as an artist during the restoration of our Victorian home in Sharon, MA. My wife Melanie and I were drawn to a “retro-futuristic” aesthetic that we later realized embodied the philosophy of Steampunk – a merging of 19th Century materials and craftsmanship fused with history + art + technology.

Our unique Steampunk House had a unique appeal that attracted international interest and was featured extensively in local and national media and beyond.

Eventually, I was called the Steampunk Guru by the Wall Street Journal and Steampunk Evangelist by Wired Magazine. My functional Steampunk artwork and design has now been featured in the Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, CNN, NPR and featured on MTV, A&E, HGTV and Netflix. 

Recently, Melanie and I purchased an 1876 Victorian Church in Palmer, MA, which we have since converted into a home, gallery, and workshop space. Our church conversion project – Steampunk Wonderland – is featured in the Netflix Original docuseries – Amazing Interiors (episode 8). 

I often travel to lecture as well to provide educational workshops as Steampunkinetics. Not only on creating Steampunk design, but also educating on how repurposing and the ‘combination of opposites’ in creative problem solving can help transform our own lives with meaningful connections to the past, present, and future. I have worked with researchers at UMass Lowell to explore the positive cognitive effects of Steampunk methods of creative problem solving, collaboration and adaptive reuse on the social skills of autistic teens and young adults.

Over the years I’ve designed and collaborated on large-scale sculptures that remain on permanent display, such as “Celeste” a 26 ft. tall, 2-ton kinetic Steampunk armillary in the courtyard of Hotel Marlowe (Kimpton) in Cambridge, MA. And the Velocipede Time Machine – a life size H.G. Wells inspired patent model – that welcomes visitors in the lobby of the Hagley Museum’s “Nation of Inventors” – a permanent exhibit showcasing the world’s largest collection of U.S. Patent Models.

As an artist, designer and reimagineer of ModVic, LLC, I am passionate about working with clients all across the world to create publicity and press worthy “hits” that get attention and connect humans to their history, community and future.

We accomplish this together by taking period, repurposed, personal and meaningful objects, and creatively infusing them with modern technology to transform the ordinary into incredible Steampunk functional art. 

My Steampunk art and design process celebrates history, while setting a path for a reimagined better future — telling the personal stories of individuals, organizations, and places along the way.

ModVic Exhibitions/Seminars/Projects

2021

George Washington Mechanical Cherry Tree - an outdoor Steampunk sculpture for Park & Ford Apartments in Alexandria, VA

Velocipede Time Machine - a kinetic Steampunk sculpture for Hagley Museum in Wilmington, DE

Da Vinci inspired Ornijethopter - fusion of a full size ornithopter, drone and rocket pack

2020

Steampunk Wonderland - renovations and home gallery sculptures in Palmer, MA: Quarantine Bar, the Humachine “Bruce”, ModVic Game Table, Nemo’s Isolation Diving Bell, Time Machine Clock, Steampunk humanoid sculpture Maxi Mixer

The Dragon’s Lair - a Steampunk themed guest room at Adventure Suites in North Conway NH 

“City of Firsts” wall art and conference table for MassHire Department of Career Services office in Springfield, MA

Clipper of the Clouds - a retro-futuristic Steampunk sculpture commissioned by Forefront in Fairhaven, NJ 

2019

‘Pneuman’ Pneumatic Tube Escape Room Truthsayer - an interactive lobby attraction for Skeleton Key (Escape Room) in West Hartford CT 

Beer Dispensing Aquarium Tank Central Bar - design and installation for JW Marriott Hotel in Marco Island FL

Time Traveling Victorian Phone Booth - modified original K2 British Phone Booth that allows NYT Best Selling Author Cassandra Clare’s fans to take selfies in some of their favorite locations from her stories

Chemex Brew Bar - a coffee bar with rotating cup holders for industry Expo and home office display for Chemex of Chicopee MA

2018

Discover Steampunk (Worldwide Tour) in collaboration with Imagine Exhibitions – Museum of Idaho, Idaho Fall, ID

Steampunk Gateway – Transformation of the 1908 Northern Avenue Swing Truss Bridge, Steampunk art consultant for AECOM and the City of Boston - Boston MA

HeliXwing Conference Table for Sanderson Macleod (inventor of the twisted wire mascara brush) – Palmer MA

Brandillary Steampunk Brandy Warmer for Hotel Marlowe (Kimpton)- Cambridge MA

Steampunk Cannon and Paul Revere Three if by Air Lanterns Lighting Sculpture – Revere Hotel – Boston MA

Railway to the Moon Presentation – Cog Railway, Mount Washington NH

2017

Helioman- BDNY (Boutique Design NY) – Introduction of DaVinci inspired Flying Machine - Javits Center, NYC

Mill City Steampunk Festival Presentation, Lowell MA

Twin Shadows - Springfield’s 9/11 Monument at Riverside Park – Springfield MA

Blade and Angel Apothecary Bar for NYT’s Best Selling Author Cassandra Clare – Amherst MA

Grand Garnisher Hendrick’s Gin mobile largest and most complicated cucumber slicer in the world – New York, NY

2016

New Sole of the Old Machine - Steampunk Brockton: ReImagining the City of Shoes – 

Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton MA

Steampunk Art & Design Workshop - Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton MA

2015

TEDx Fulton Street/TEDx Beacon Street - Steampunk Design: Reimagining Resilience - NYC/Boston

Steampunkinetics – Building Art into Science, Steampunk as Art Therapy for Kids with Autism,

University of Massachusetts – Lowell MA

Steampunk Art & Design Workshop -- Charles River Museum -- Waltham MA

Celeste – Steampunk Courtyard Armillary for the Hotel Marlowe (Kimpton) – Cambridge MA

Steampunk Chef’s Table Kitchen Viewer – MAST’ Restaurant - Boston MA

2014

Steampunk Springfield: Reimagining an Industrial City, City wide including Springfield Museums; Central Library; Springfield Symphony; Springfield Technical Community College; Springfield Armory, UMASS Amherst, City-Stage Theater – Springfield, MA

Steampunk Quantum Wheelchair Design, GrabCad, Cambridge MA

2013

Steampunk Bedroom Makeover, Make-A-Wish, Boston MA

Sherwin Williams Steampunk Dapper Den’ Boston Design Center, Boston MA

ModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, RiverFest – Assembly Row, Somerville MA

Steampunk: Nature & Machine, Lockwood Mathews Mansion, Norwalk CT

Designing Steampunk, CreativeMornings Boston, Boston MA

Time Machines: Robots, Rockets and Steampunk, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne VT

Victorian Extreme: American Fancywork and Steampunk, 1850 – Now, Bennington Museum, Bennington VT

Steampunk Dickens and his Villain Heads, WaterFire Festival, Old Stone Bank, Providence RI

Plasma Light Art and Steampunk Design, International Assn. of Lighting Designers, Charles River Museum, Waltham MA

ModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Watch City Festival – Charles River Museum, Waltham MA

Steampunk @ Pier Show Pier 94 – Chelsea, New York NY

Steampunkinetics Rube Goldberg Exhibition, Northeast Arc, Danvers MA

Steampunk House Tours, Groupon, Sharon MA

20,000 Leagues Steampunk Gala, 5 Wits, Foxboro MA

2012

Steampunk Mechanical Whale, The Nantucket Hotel, Nantucket MA

Steampunk Cutting Edge Office, for Patent Attorney, Foley & Lardner, Prudential Center, Boston MA

How to Architect Steampunk into Your Design - Steampunk for Architects, Architecture Boston

Expo (ABX), Boston MA

Steampunkinetics Gallery Show, AFA Gallery – SOHO, New York, NY

Living Steampunk, Boskone 49 – Regional Science Fiction Convention, Boston Westin Waterfront, Boston MA

ModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Watch City Festival – Charles River Museum, Waltham MA

Living Steampunk, Dickens Festival, Salem MA

Steampunk Dickens and his Villain Heads, Pollard Public Library, Lowell MA

Steampunk @ CraftBoston, World Trade Center, Boston MA

Steampunk @ Metro Show, New York NY

ModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Steampunk Industrial Revolution Festival, Nashua NH

Living Steampunk, FaerieCon, Baltimore MD

Steampunk Soiree Steamer and Exhibition, Revolving Museum, Lowell MA

Steampunk Form & Function Show & Exhibition II, Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, Waltham MA

Designing Steampunk, DESIGN East, Boston MA

Steampunk @ Antique City, Schaut’s Fun Fair, Bethlehem PA

Steampunk @ Brimfield Antique Show, Brimfield MA

Steampunk Historical House Tour, Sharon Historical Society, Sharon MA

2011

Steampunk Home Theater Room, Audio Concepts, Boston MA

Back Home to Future Expo, Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks, PA

Mobilis in Mobili: An Exhibition of Art & Appliance, Wooster Street Social Club (NY Ink), New York, NY

ModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Watch City Festival, Charles River Museum, Waltham MA

Norman Rockwell Museum Goes Back to the Future with Steampunk Night, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge MA

Steampunk Bizarre Exhibition, Mark Twain Museum, Hartford CT

Steampunk Form & Function Show & Exhibition, Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, Waltham MA

ModVic with East Coast Paranormal Research Team, Benjamin Stanley Freeman House, 390 Mount Hope Street, North Attleboro MA

2010

ModVic Steampunk Art Exhibition, Steampunk World’s Fair, Piscataway NJ

Steampunk @ Boston Antique & Design Show, Shriner’s Auditorium, Wilmington, MA

Nemo’s Steampunk Art and Invention Gallery, 20,000 Leagues, 5-Wits Attraction, Foxboro MA

Steampunk @ Pier Show, Pier 94 – Chelsea, New York NY

Education

Master of Business Administration, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business 1988

Bachelor of Business Administration, University of Massachusetts, School of Management 1984

Boards

Chairman (past) of Sharon Historic Commission, Sharon, MA

Trustee, Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, Waltham, MA

Trustee, Palmer Historical Cultural Center – Three Rivers MA