with its high ceiling. “Thework ismost-
ly figurative. I'm working on creating
and evolving my own personal body of
work,” he said of his “vision and voice
as an artist.”
“I think I was pleasantly relieved to
see howwell I was received inmy own
home town. The support was over-
whelming.”
The nearby Starkweather Lofts
development has been branded with
hiswork.
“So basically it's been a pleasant
surprise to be so well received,” Roko
said. “I think PARC's initiative (a desti-
nation arts center) can be one of the
most vital components to a thriving
community. What is a community with-
out culture?
“I was pleasantly surprised to see
they were so open to the avant garde
and basically raw approach to my cre-
ations,” he said.
He said he was impressed with
Ford Motor Co. hiring architect Albert
Kahn for buildings in the early days, as
well as muralist Diego Rivera in the
1930s for work at the Detroit Institute
of Arts.
“I think time and again Ford has
been the company of the Big Three
that has continually showed integrity,”
he said. “Their commitment to their
employees is really a reflection of
them being a family-owned company
and their legacy.”
The Great Recession bailout
decline and severance packages have
beenpositives.
“I think the purchase of the (Detroit)
train station is another example of
that, to preserve that history,” he said.
Roko, who drives a 1965 Ford F250
truck (40,000-some miles), notes pros
and cons of going to an auto plant from
high school.
“Creation is kind of the opposite of
that. You can spend hours trying to
articulate concepts as an artist,” he
noted of his former work being quan-
tifiable. “I've had to learn to adjust to
that.”
He added, “Work ethic was meas-
ured on how fast you could dig a ditch;
I'vehad to sort of recalibrate.”
“The concept of art and a working
artist was abstract tomy parents. Their
world revolved around needs, and you
can't eat paintings.
“I think we've all learned something
really valuable about pursuing your
passion and purpose. I don't believe
they had that luxury, and I'm grateful
they got us here,” he said of himself
andhis two brothers.
“I can also understand paintings
don't sell in refugee camps. I've been
able to push boundaries because there
weren't boundaries put in place by pro-
fessors and such. In the same breath, I
would have loved to have had a formal
art education. Above all, I do believe
creative vision is amode.”
His Ford factory murals, indoor and
outdoor, were done with automotive
applications and he now uses more
environmentally appropriate paint.
He's featured on Atwater Brewery of
Detroit beer artwork.
Roko's especially proud of his Art
Foundation, doing work with Detroit
Public Schools, foster home youth,
those rescued from human trafficking,
Page 6
Roko
from page 5
Tony Roko concentrates on his artwork at his Plymouth studio.
