BROOKINGS — Artists making the cut and juried into the annual Brookings Summer Arts Festival are in the running for three awards: two will each receive an Award of Excellence; one other artist will receive the Media Award. The latter will have their work used in the design for the next year’s BSAF logo.

The Media Award winner for BSAF 2023 is Frank Costanzo, a “pop artist” from Ralston, Nebraska. His award–winning logo for BSAF 2024 features a nattily dressed — albeit in a sort of casual, rock-and-roll fashion — guitar-playing skeleton. But who is that guy?

“It’s nobody in particular,” Costanzo explained. “But I sort of used reference to Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards. And then the glasses the skeleton’s wearing; in 1966 Richard Avendon was a photographer who took portraits of the Beatles and then they colorized them. John Lennon had his glasses on in that portrait, so I put that in a lot of my paintings.”

A “lot of paintings” certainly is one way to describe the work of the man who cam be found online at Frank Costanzo Pop Art. But Costanzo’s work must also be viewed by the lots-of-life that he covers — his pop art is just pieces of that lots-of-life versatility that is present in his work.

“I’ve heard people tell me I’m not doing pop art,” he said. “I guess (it’s) anything that’s sort of related to pop culture. It’s throwaway history, I guess.” After a brief reference to 20th Century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, Costanzo notes that “a lot of those guys from the ‘60s did a lot of pop culture-type stuff.” Then, laughing good naturedly at the what-is-it that makes it pop art,  Costanzo says, “I don’t know, seriously I don’t know.”

30 years with the Yellow Pages

The noted artist from Nebraska is returning to BSAF for the (he’s not sure) third or fourth year. It’s one of several stomping-grounds Midwestern arts festivals that include: Yankton; Sioux City, Iowa; and Lincoln, Nebraska. And he’s ready for his return to Pioneer Park on July 13-14.

“I’ve got a lot of new paintings, a lot of new artwork,” Costanzo says. “I did a specific one, just for Brookings. It’s related to the Jackrabbits winning the national championship.”

By way of background, he’s a lifelong cornhusker, “born and raised in Omaha.” He added, laughing a bit, “Education, I went to Catholic schools, which might explain some of my weird ideas for paintings and stuff like that.”

“I went to commercial art school once I got out of high school; it was kind of a college but it was more to learn how to do commercial advertising. … You had to typeset, color separate by hand with X acto knives.

“I had almost a 30-year career with the Yellow Pages. … It was a great job and then the internet came along and they said, ‘We don’t need you anymore.’ We handled all the Midwest and the western states and everything.  I know a lot of the little towns throughout Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota.” Then it all came to an end: Costanzo was 52 years old.

“I had to figure out what I wanted to do,” he said. “I was too young to retire. But also at that age they think people don’t have enough knowledge about computers and are ready to kick the can, which is far from the truth. I was involved with computers and graphics and everything.” That being said, it was time to move on.

Time again for paints and brushes

“I’ve always been an artist, so I decided to start painting again,” Costanzo said. He had already provided examples of his work to the Old Market site in downtown Omaha. A friend of his was leaving the gallery there: “So they looked at my stuff and I went in there. It’s worked out quite well.”

He started doing shows there again, something he had done “way, way back in the early ‘80s. … The shows started taking off. I’m in two galleries in Omaha now. I also have a couple of shops up in Deadwood that carry some of my artwork.”

“I have a weird mind, so I paint a lot of goofy stuff,” the artist explained. “I was raised on ‘Mad’ magazine.” Add to that a love for music — Costanzo admits, however, that while he plays no musical instrument he has an appreciation for musical legends such as the Beatles, which permeates much of the art he creates.

 “You ain’t never too old to rock n’ roll” are words he ties to the art world — and life in general.

“I consider myself more of an illustrator than an artist,” is Costanzo’s description of self. “With attention to detail, I love bright colors and a retro style similar to the old rock n’ roll posters of the 1960s with a little chaos thrown in.” Add to that what he calls “my weird sense of humor.”

Finally, add to all this a hard-to-pin-down genre of art because of the multifaceted versatility of the artist, some of it enjoyably silly and some of it spot-on serious.

One way to get a feel for what the artist is all about is to go online to Frank Costanzo Pop Art. Go where it leads you: like his Facebook page, for example, which will give you a hint of what he’ll be bringing to BASF 2024. 

The online visit I cited above will also show you the spot-on serious Costanzo weighing in on some issues and causes — via a few words and a lot of paint color. Sometimes the serious and the silly come together in a message that says a lot about the times we live in. Check out: “The Battle of the Aged. MMXX. Fight. It’s your right. Vote November 3.”

“I’ve done historical references, like I said,” he explained. “I like to tweak things. I’ve done paintings of the presidents; I’ve done a couple paintings of Trump that sort of got me in trouble. Also, I’ve done Obama; I did Mitt Romney; and I did Hillary. But the Trump ones seemed to be the most controversial. You don’t have to agree with me. But I like to put things out there every once and awhile.”

For more of the man and the artist, check out online his “music … satire … experiences. … “I like things to be inclusive for people.”

Costanzo married his high school sweetheart when they were both 20. They’re looking to celebrate their golden wedding-anniversary next year. They have one son and a granddaughter. 

Contact John Kubal at jkubal@brookingsregister.com.