George Rhoads is well known for his large audiokinetic ball sculptures that attract and engage people throughout the world. Balls roll and percussion devices clatter and chime in airports, hospitals, art museums, science museums, shopping centers and other public places. He also makes works for private homes and offices.

As a child Rhoads was always drawing. He constructed diverse mechanisms, among which were a Ferris wheel, a barometer, an astronomical clock and a sailing bicycle. A gifted painter, he began in the late fifties to show welded steel sculptures and kinetic copper fountains as well as paintings. His first audiokinetic sculptures were small, some involving the use of rolling balls to impel various sound and motion devices. Quirky and unique, these attracted the attention of David Bermant, a builder of shopping centers and patron of a group of technological artists. Bermant has aided Rhoads in many ways in their 35 year association, and has commissioned wind sculptures, fountains, and several large rolling ball pieces.

In his sculptures, Rhoads strives to demystify technology. He says that "machines are interesting to everybody, but people usually don't understand them because, as in a gasoline engine, the fun part goes on inside the cylinder. So I've restricted myself to mechanisms that you can see and understand quickly." His machines' chief goal is to engage people in their play. He sees himself as a prophet of the mature industrial age, a time in which the upheaval and human suffering brought about by the industrial revolution will have subsided, and, for machines as well as people, there will be no distinction between work and play.

You can visit George Rhoad's personal website to see the many ways his creativity expresses itself, including paintings, kinetic clocks, and a novel. Go to www.georgerhoads.com.

Creative Machines Inc. has been making public art pieces and interactive museum exhibits for over 10 years. We specialize in exhibits that give visitors opportunities for self-expression (our stop-motion animation workstation), exhibits that involve water (our stream tables) and unique projects such as the world's largest accurate erupting volcano. For more information, click on the Creative Machines logo at the top left corner of this page.

We've always admired George Rhoads' ball machine sculptures. In 2007, we had the opportunity to begin fabricating them. Bob McGuire, who fabricated ball machines for George Rhoads over many years, decided to retire and approached Creative Machines about continuing this work. Bob worked closely with Creative Machines for several months, training our people in his specialized techniques. Today, George Rhoads trusts Creative Machines to make his visions a reality as he continues to design new sculptures and new devices for the balls to interact with.