Art can be created from anything. Whether you paint a canvas, shape a clay mold or draw on a sheet of paper, every piece of carefully crafted work tells its own story. Regardless of the medium, art is only limited by the artist’s imagination — and Brad Oldham’s is limitless.
Working in DFW for over 25 years, Brad Oldham is an award-winning sculptor from Keller who primarily works with various metals, including brass, aluminum, bronze and stainless steel. Brad’s creative and crafty pieces can be found throughout the Metroplex, whether it’s a trio of traveling men in Deep Ellum, a 6-foot-tall playful puppy in Keller or a furious dragon at District 114 in Southlake.
From sculptures of people and plants to animals and dragons, Brad’s vision for larger-than-life icons remains as grandiose as ever.
Molding His Passion
Creativity runs in the Oldham family. As a child, Brad’s father Jack worked for several companies as an efficiency engineer and consultant, including General Dynamics and Bell Helicopter. His brother, internationally acclaimed fashion designer Todd Oldham, launched his own clothing line in 1989, and Brad worked at his brother’s business from high school until after college.
“I made buttons,” Brad explains. “They were everything from ceramics to plastics to metals. The metal casting in particular was really fun and kind of what I enjoyed most.”
After Todd Oldham was licensed to Jones Apparel in 1999, Todd introduced Brad to New York architect David Rockwell, whose design firm worked on high-end restaurants for chefs such as Bobby Flay, Nobu Matsuhisa and Emeril Lagasse. With newfound inspiration, Brad expanded his metalworking skills from small buttons to larger and more involved products.
“I did everything from door handles to light fixtures to railings to columns,” Brad recalls. “It was all decorative stuff — just highly intricate, detailed items with small sculptures for fun.”
Brad continued manufacturing metallic structures for high-end businesses across the country until he and Reel FX’s Brandon Oldenburg were commissioned in 2007 to design a public art piece celebrating Deep Ellum’s arts scene. The end result was “The Traveling Man,” a trio of statues depicting a blues musician emerging from the ground and walking around the city before sitting down to strum his guitar while waiting for the train.
“The Traveling Man” cost $1.4 million and took two years to complete. But once it was finished, it quickly became a prominent icon in downtown Dallas, with people coming to admire the 40-foot wonder and take pictures with it. A year after it debuted, the sculpture was included in “Americans For The Arts’” year-in-review program, while Brad later won the prestigious Artisan Award from the Texas Society of Architects.
“There aren’t a lot of really large sculptures in the world, so it felt freeing to work on a piece of that magnitude,” Brad says. “After that sculpture, I saw a direction there that I really enjoyed and wanted to go. My focus was on sculpture work from that point onward.”
Animal Artistry
Since pivoting to sculpture work, Brad’s many innovative installations can be found across the state. One of his most notable ventures includes “Running With The Moon” in San Antonio, a 31-foot statue that’s made out of 508 handmade butterflies. He also created sculptures for Hall-of-Fame-caliber athletes, including Texas Rangers pitcher Nolan Ryan, NHL great Wayne Gretzky and Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki. He even did a statue depicting a bird skateboarding for his Dallas headquarters that represents the leap of faith that artists and entrepreneurs such as himself take every day.
One recurring motif throughout most of his pieces is his use of animals. From his “Stacked Friends” piece depicting a dog, rabbit and bird sitting on top of each other to a squirrel conducting like a maestro to the “Miss Llinda Llee Llama,” Brad’s depictions of animals are as clever as they are cheeky and fun.
“The animals are something we really enjoy,” Brad says. “The playfulness and approachability of them is something that people really respond to.”
And he never works on his art alone — his wife and partner of 23 years, Christy Coltrin, is usually the one researching and coming up with sculpture concepts.
One of his favorite contributions of hers is with his piece titled “Princess Pig,” which includes a quote that says “She never really took to the farm.”
“She comes up with a lot of great ideas,” Brad says. “How we build it, the installation and how we get from point A to point B is mostly me after we finalize the design and narrative.”
While Brad appreciates every opportunity that comes his way, he relishes every chance to work on a piece closer to his home. He especially takes pride in the “Playful Puppy” piece he constructed for the city of Keller back in 2021, which is a 6-and-a-half-foot stainless steel statue that reminds him of his own four-legged family member, Pete.
“It was a pleasure to work out there,” Brad says. “It’s just nice to give something back to your hometown.”
The same sentiment applies to his Southlake piece as well. In 2020, Brad was commissioned by resident and business owner Jeff Medici to create a piece for the Dragon community. The result was “Fury,” an 8-ton dragon sculpture that overlooks Kimball Park.
At 28 feet tall with a wingspan of 41 feet, Fury is one of the biggest pieces Brad’s ever made.
“We got to play around with the dragon concept and make it fierce-looking but approachable — it’s kind of like Southlake’s protector,” Brad says. “It was really fun to create a dragon that’s beloved by the community and the local alumni. We took it very seriously because the dragon is an icon that’s going to last hundreds of years. We want generations to look back at it and say ‘That’s my dragon. That’s my hometown.’”
Joseph Haubert
Shaping Community
From dogs and dragons to towering titans, Brad’s come a long way from his days of molding buttons for his brother’s fashion business. Yet for him, the process has always been the same.
“When you make a shirt, a skirt or a pair of pants, you start off with a pattern and fabric and you just go through the steps,” Brad says. “Art is the same way. Whether you’re making thousands of small sculptures or one large one, the same effort goes into it. Even when you work on a button, it’s still kind of a small sculpture.”
Brad is always committed to delivering the highest-quality piece he can to every one of his clients. Yet, Christy says the best thing about him is that he doesn’t make art for himself — he makes art specifically for the people he serves.
“What sets Brad apart is his unique blend of experience, knowledge, artistry and confidence,” Christy says. “We enjoy collaborating on the design and creation of public art sculptures that actively connect with communities. I don’t think there is anyone else working in the public art space today that has his extensive range of skills and creativity.”
Christy likened their consultation process to dating — getting to know their clients better and understanding what makes them special so they can create a piece that speaks most to their community.
“We don’t just create what we want — we make what works for the community that we’re building and working in,” Brad says. “You gotta build it in such a way that it’s appreciated.”
What brings Brad the biggest pride is seeing how well communities receive his work and how quickly they are to welcome it as part of their home.
“That’s one of the greatest things about putting sculptures out to the public,” Brad says. “We love hearing the feedback and watching people take photos and make it their own. Because it’s not ours anymore. Sure we created it, but it’s theirs now. We may be a small company, but we can do really big things.”