Kevin Schuhl, the Newest Addition to the Classic Design Department

We are excited to welcome Kevin Schuhl to Classic’s Design Department. Kevin brings an eclectic design background to our creative team, which he shares in his bio below.

Kevin Schuhl

After growing up in the chaparral covered hills and valleys of Poway, CA, I attended the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). Four years and one change of major later, I received a BA in Art.

Feeling I needed more practical experience, I began working as a scenic artist at the La Jolla Playhouse.  It was there that I learned much about paint treatments, large scale art projects, and the immense amount of collaboration between different trades required to accomplish those projects successfully. Another quick stint doing similar work for a company focused on corporate events, and I was ready for something new.

I relocated to Chicago in the late nineties, ostensibly for graduate school. While more art school did not work for me, Chicago did. I instead started working with a friend out of our basement studio providing large format printing for photographers and artists. Over the next few years, we garnered larger clients and found we had fallen into a niche designing and fabricating graphics as well as scenic art elements for some nationwide chain restaurants.

When it was clear that a studio of our size would not survive a large economic collapse, I began thinking of ways to continue to merge my love of traditional arts and more modern forms of design and production. I took a job working as a 3D visual designer for an event production company, assisting designers through the modeling and rendering of spaces and decor to be used for large corporate functions, weddings, and festivals alike.

Alas, fifteen years in Chicago becomes cramped, and the wife and I wanted out. We sold the house and moved to Chicago’s older uncle, Milwaukee, WI. There, we learned the ins and outs of ecommerce, creating several online sites for the purpose of selling graphic decor directly to the end- user. While rewarding in its own way, I missed the sense of working with people on larger projects that involved much more than simply what was on the computer screen. I missed the shop.

This led us to Portland this past July, with the caveat that I would be looking to leave the home office in search of other work. Luckily for me, Classic Exhibits had a need for some design help. In my short time here, Classic has been everything that I was hoping to regain in work. Collaboration in a shop with a variety of skilled people. Collaboration with an even larger, unseen audience toward one goal. I look forward to all I will learn across the spectrum that is Classic Exhibits.

When not working, my time is split between music, learning software, painting, furniture making, cooking, playing pinball with my wife, and walking with our dog.

Kevin Schuhl
kschuhl@classicexhibits.com