Gary Zahradka
Gary is a professional artist with over half a century of experience. He trained at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Atelier Lack School of Fine Art in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
He worked extensively in the graphic design field designing book covers and corporate logos, before founding Omega Artworks in 1982.
Over the decades, his portfolio of work has grown to such immense size that there is no way we can include it all on this website. In his spare time Gary enjoys oil
painting and sailing his small wooden sailboat around local lakes.
Suzy Zahradka
Suzy is a versatile artist with experience in both visual and performing arts. She attended the University of Minnesota at Duluth and the College of St. Scholastica, and has worked almost all of her life in costume and theater production.
Suzy’s eye for design and balance has affected nearly every piece made by the team at Omega Artworks; her bronze sculptures are some of Omega’s most enduring creations.
When not working in bronze and metal Suzy is a talented fiber and soft-sculpture artist, with work exhibited in several galleries and theatrical productions. In her spare time she can usually be found reading, gardening, and learning to speak Ojibwe.
Rowan Zahradka
Rowan joined Omega Artworks officially in 2018, and has been working to incorporate their unique perspective and artistic vision into the family business. They graduated from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in archaeology and a minor in studio arts. While at university, Rowan did archaeological field research in Romania, Tanzania, and Wisconsin. Their research focused on the intersection between humans and the natural world, so it’s no surprise that their artwork is heavily inspired by themes of history and nature.
Rowan is nonbinary and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. In their spare time, Rowan enjoys gardening and doing volunteer outreach work in science communication.
Omega Artworks is a family owned business based out of Saint Paul, Minnesota. We aren’t a huge corporation, and we never will be. Everything is made entirely by hand in our small studio, and there are only three of us who work for the business.
Here at Omega Artworks, we have three core values that guide everything we do:
Artistry
Originality and artistry are at the core of what we do at Omega Artworks. Our work focuses on sculptural detail and creative design.
We don’t reproduce copyrighted works from movies or tv shows, because we prefer to work with our own original ideas.
If you are looking for a plain sword or a simple knife, we probably aren’t the company you are looking for.
Our skills lie in bringing one-of-a-kind artistic creations to life.
Quality
We pride ourselves on the quality of our craftsmanship. Our swords and knives are made out of high-carbon steel, solid cast bronze, and quality hardwoods. Our sculptures are the same quality that you would expect to find in a museum. We always work with materials that best suit each object.
Sometimes people assume that our knives and swords must be “only decorative” since they are designed to be beautiful, but don’t be fooled. Our creations are the same quality– or better– than similar objects that look more utilitarian. In the rare case that something breaks from regular use, let us know and we’ll make sure it gets fixed.
Legacy
Omega Artworks is a multi-generational family business that has been around for over four decades, and we don’t plan on going anywhere.
Over the years, our portfolio of work has grown to include a vast array of different projects. Our work has appeared in tv shows such as Star Trek: Discovery, Guillermo del Toro’s FX series The Strain, and NBC’s Heroes Reborn. We’ve created objects for universities, corporations, and performers. We even sculpted a few canes for the musician Prince back in the day.
However, our favorite clients are the individual people who have owned and loved our pieces for decades. In fact, we now find ourselves creating pieces for the grandchildren of some of our very first clients.