Today we’d like to introduce you to Rex Hausmann.
Hi Rex, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Our business at Hausmann Millworks began in the best possible way: rooted in family and an environment of productivity and “stick-to-itiveness.” My parents owned a small business called Hausmann and Hausman Design Company, which ran successfully for 32 years. They completed global projects with firms like Overland Partners Architects, including the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., the St. Mary’s University moot court, and the judges’ chambers at the Capitol in Austin, Texas.
Growing up in this atmosphere of hard work, I returned home in 2006 after finishing my degree at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I began organizing and working at the buildings, eventually co-founding the Studios with my parents and our first studio artist, David Almaguer.
We started by repurposing spaces, slowly expanding into educational series, lectures, film screenings, and art shows. We’ve held a consistent presence in our community for over 18 years, maintaining studio tenures that range from five to fifteen years. We continuously collaborate with nonprofits, museums, galleries, and alternative spaces to create an environment conducive to long-term creative careers growing the studios to over 60 studios now.
Between 2013 and 2016, I completed my Master of Fine Arts from SCAD, continuing to grow the Studios at Hausmann Millworks while pursuing my MFA.
Now in our 18th year, Hausmann Millworks has completed projects in Spain, France, Italy, Japan, China, and across the U.S.—from New York City and the Hamptons to Los Angeles and Miami—leaving a lasting impact on artists and craftsmen alike. The overarching goal has always been: How do you take the environment you are from, understand it, excel within it, and grow from there while bringing others with you?
This philosophy has deep roots, and I am writing this from the American Academy in Rome. I was recently awarded a visiting scholars position at the Academy, where I have just arrived to begin a project called “The Quotidian.” I will be studying the Art History masters firsthand and creating a comic book at the end of my stay. I’ll be making art from life—drawing and painting in Rome while studying masters like Bernini, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Raphael in situ. By bringing these findings back home in an accessible comic book format and sharing the journey on social media, I hope to make these world-class inspirations available to everyone.
Throughout this journey, we at Hausmann Millworks have lived by our slogan, “Grow where you are planted.” To us, this means digging deep roots in your community, making opportunities accessible, and relentlessly progressing your own talent. My mother, Renee Hausmann championed this through her program P.A.V.E. (People, Access, Vision, Encouragement), which focuses on business practices for artists and eduction. My father, Gene Hausmann, an artist, master craftsmen & engineer, developed a model for affordable, climate-controlled studios, providing artists with a professional environment outside the home.
We are a family business working with integrity to create a productive, positive, and nurturing environment. Today, my family and our community continue to work on local, national, and international levels, maintaining a rhythm of completing a major international project every two years—a commitment we’ve honored for nearly two decades.
Currently, we are working on a project with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the McNay Art Museum called “Fiesta on the River,” which is set to debut on May 1 while I am here in Rome.
Back home, we are preparing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our building in the Alta Vista neighborhood of San Antonio—still growing where we were planted in the same space we’ve called home for half a century.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
“I have to sum this up by saying that life is most definitely a journey. You have your ups and downs; the most important part is that you stick to it and stick with it. As you saw in the first part of our interview, I’ve been at this ‘art thing’ my entire life—pursuing both undergraduate and graduate degrees while figuring out how to secure scholarships along the way.
It’s not easy; none of it is. You have to figure out how to maintain relationships, create value, and generate a living, all while discovering what you’re meant to do with your life. None of those questions are easy to answer, but they are all worthwhile.
Currently, I’m sitting on a bench at the American Academy in Rome typing this out. This is a place where Nobel Prize winners, Guggenheim Fellows, and Pulitzer Prize winners have walked. I believe Galileo’s telescope was even tested here for one of the Popes! So, I’d say stick to it, do your best every day, try to make things about other people, and enjoy the ride. It is absolutely worth it. I wouldn’t trade the process for anything in the world. Love your family, love your friends, love your community, and do your best with what you have. As we say at the Hausmann Millworks: ‘Grow where you’re planted.'”
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m going to try to keep this section short. I’ve been able to pursue a career in a creative field where it’s notoriously difficult to carve out your own space.
I’m a painter, I have an absolute love for art history.
I’m most proud of the fact that I’m still an artist. At the end of the day, I make a living selling paintings, doing drawings, and using my creativity to generate an income. I have museum shows and have published nine books. As well, at the same time built a family business that sustained 18 years with a community that is affected numbers of people over a long period of time.
Believe In your dreams, and work, your tail off to make them a real reality.
It is doable, and you really can pursue your dreams if you’re willing to work hard. Take some risks; talk to people.
Ego is not my amigo.
Mark Twain once said, “Find what it is you are to do, and then spend the rest of your life doing it.” & give the glory to God and get on with it.
Any big plans?
The visiting scholar’s position at the American Academy in Rome is most definitely a moment in life. I’m exceedingly grateful to be here in an institution that’s over 100 years old and houses great minds, thinkers, and scholars. It’s a big honor; I’m very thankful. I cannot wait to get started on my drawings and paintings.
Pricing:
- www.rexhausmann.com
- Google: Rex Hausmann value of paintings and drawings
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rexhausmann.com | www.hausmannmillworks.com
- Instagram: Rex_hausmann
- Facebook: Rex_hausmann
