A talented ironworker at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) was selected to have his creative and sustainable artwork displayed for the world with a powerful message of mental health awareness for veterans.

Structural ironworker Steve Kost and his upcycled scrap metal artwork received international exposure when Google selected him to be featured with a Google Doodle displayed on Veterans Day. 

“We congratulate Steve Kost and thank him for his talents and service to our nation,” said MWRD President Kari K. Steele. “He is a true model of our goals in sustainability, bringing new life to what was formerly considered waste and turning it into beautiful new sculptures that shine a light on mental health awareness for veterans. By seeing Steve’s story on Google, we hope more veterans will be encouraged to make their mental health a priority.” 

Kost has been honored numerous times throughout the country, but the Google selection took on more significance and recognition. It is major exposure with more than 8.5 billion searches per day, or 99,000 searches per second.  View the Google Doodle. 

He was contacted in August by Google about being featured on Veterans Day. The challenge: come up with an original artwork in two months. Kost went to work in his Palos Park garage and taking bits of scrap metal found in army supply stores and veteran equine therapy centers, he created an American bald eagle in flight, called “Freedom Flight.” The eagle weighs 60 pounds, stands 28 inches tall, 44 inches wide, its wings mended together by two recycled wrenches. Kost and his eagle were flown to New York on Veterans Day for a reception at Google’s new headquarters in Manhattan. 

“It was an honor to create this very special sculpture for Veterans Day. It is amazing how many Google users there are per second, and the potential to have my metal art viewed at that magnitude is astonishing,” Kost said. “I was selected from a large pool of potential veteran artists because of my lifelike upcycled sculptures, and the positive message of the healing power of art. I hope that by sharing my story and my Metal Health Artwork, I can inspire other veterans to find a healthy and positive outlet. This will also be a great way to shine a light on our efforts at MWRD to improve the environment and ensure the health and safety of our residents and waterways.”

At 17, and weighing 115 pounds, Kost enlisted in the Navy in 1991. After a successful stint as a hull technician, he opted to join the Naval Construction Force (Navy Seabees). In addition to combat training at Port Hueneme in California, he learned to repair roadways, runways and other facilities. He was dispatched on tours of duty to Spain, Guam and Crete. But on one of his tours to Mogadishu, Somalia in late 1992, where he was drilling water wells to help make life easier for residents dealing with famine and civil war, he was also witness to some of the mounting unrest that ensued.

He came home, married his high school sweetheart Colleen and became an iron worker in 1997 and joined the MWRD in 2014. But along the way some of his experiences in the Navy triggered post-traumatic stress disorder. Living in an old creaky house with hot water radiators, he found himself restive, pacing back and forth in the middle of the night. 

He decided to pick up an old typewriter at a garage sale, take it home and dismantle it. A few nights later, he cobbled together a few small robots with the metal, and he found he was not only enjoying assembling the scrap metal pieces but it was a healthy distraction to free his mind. It was an opportunity, he said, to gain strength in his “mind muscle.” 

By 2018 he entered his first art show. He watched as visitors to his booth were captivated by his work, and he found that inspiring. It has also led to more invitations to share his work and speak.

“At first I thought they were going to tell me it was junk, but they liked it, and I enjoyed sitting back and watching people smile,” Kost said. “My artwork and my story have become my mission to share and help veterans with their mental health. I realized there was a greater purpose to help and inspire people to find the healing part of art.”

 

Today, Kost estimates he has crafted 45 different sculptures. He has made an owl, a vulture, a fish, a hawk and numerous animals, as well as a popular cicada that drew headlines this last summer. He is now piecing together a 15-foot dragon and considering proposals from across the country. About twice a week, a fan of his work, neighbor, friend or friend of a friend comes by with a bucket of old scrap metal parts. When he isn’t sculpting, welding, grinding or fabricating and installing at work, Kost enjoys playing drums in his band, The Seventh Sons. 

To view more of his artwork, visit SteveKost.com or follow him on Instagram via Metal Health Artwork.