Harold Balazs

 Harold Balazs (1928 – December 30, 2017) was an American sculptor and artist whose work has been featured in exhibits and public art installations throughout the Northwestern United States. He is known for creating large, abstract metal sculptures, but also created murals, jewelry, furniture, drawings, stained glass and wooden boats.

Balazs lived in Mead, Washington and referred to the studio in his barn as Mead Art Works.[1]

Balazs was born in 1928 and grew up in Westlake, Ohio during the Depression Era. While his mother encouraged his interest in art, he honed his skills in his father's sheet metal and air conditioning business.[citation needed] He moved with his parents to Spokane, Washington, and later majored in art at Washington State University, where he met his future wife, Rosemary.[citation needed]

His first collaboration for commissioned work was a mural at Ridpath Hotel in Spokane, produced with Patrick Flammia in 1951. He became a leading liturgical artist, with sculpture, painting, stained glass, and reliefs inside over 200 churches and synagogues in the Pacific Northwest, including a bas relief sculpture on the east facade of the First United Methodist Church in Eugene, Oregon.[2]

Balazs served three terms as Washington State Arts Commissioner and helped draft that state's art legislation.[3]

Balazs died on December 30, 2017, aged 89.[4]