Steve Rieman, an internationally renowned man of many talents, passed away on March 29 from the complication of cancer. His wife and many friends gathered at the Rieman home in Flamingo Heights on Sunday, August 28, Steve’s Birthday, to celebrate his life and talents.
Steve’s career began as an off-road racing driver, racing car designer, and builder. When the land first spoke to him in 1974 and told him to reach higher, he moved his wife, Ruth, to Flamingo Heights, graduated from Art Center College of Design in 1974 with a degree in Industrial design, and began his career as an artist. Steve built the first cabin on his property, the house they would live in, and his studio. He has said the land told him what to make, and all of it was with sustainability and great appreciation for nature. His work asks questions about the balance between advancing technology and preserving the natural environment. Many of his works are kinetic, activated by the wind and gravity, but he has designed furniture, painted in different mediums, and of course, designed cars. He also designed the building for what is now the Joshua Tree National Park Visitors Center in Joshua Tree and the MDLT Headquarters, originally a nursery. Many of his sculptures, around the Basin were donated by himself or collectors. In addition, he generously gave art for auction to support the Wildlands and other conservation efforts.
Meeting Steve Rieman back in 2010, I remember simultaneously being touched by a quiet, humble presence and an artistic explosion. That sounds like a contradiction, but not if you knew him. Friend, collector, and poet Gasper Patrico wrote in 2022 that Steve “made gravity chuckle/at the tonnage that danced under the spell of his maker imagination”…
I bought one of his kinetic sculptures years before I met him, loving the eagles that swirled around a steel cone with the force of the wind. Later, while writing a story about Steve and Ruth’s conservation efforts, I met him at his home and recognized him as the artist. I was awed by the buildings’ and grounds’ beauty and practicality. I felt every sculpture had a life of its own and enjoyed being there as much as I did.
Since 1993 Steve has completed twenty-two public art projects in California and has been included in sixteen group exhibitions. He enjoyed being a part of the growing community of artists in the Morongo Basin and, with his wife, were on the Board of the Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency, giving shelter to many artists and supporting and encouraging them in their artistic journey. He was an adjunct art instructor at Copper Mountain College from 1993 to 2006 and was an occasional juror of awards for local art exhibitions. On Sunday, August 28, close to 150 people gathered at the Rieman house to celebrate Steve with stories, photos, and admiration for a talent that never stopped giving.
