Bruce Rosenbaum (born February 4, 1962 in Boston, MA) is an American artist and designer known for his creative Steampunk design and work both in his home, The Steampunk House, and produced by his company, ModVic. He has been called the steampunk guru by the Wall Street Journal and steampunk evangelist by Wired Magazine.
Rosenbaum grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, attending Marblehead High School, then getting his Bachelors Degree in Business at UMASS Amherst. After graduating UMASS, Rosenbaum worked as a Department Manager for Lord and Taylor in Stamford, Connecticut where he met his wife Melanie. Rosenbaum later attended Duke University and received his MBA. After graduating Duke University, he worked for Sara Lee Direct in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and then worked for other direct marketing agencies. Rosenbaum, along with his wife, Melanie, started a direct-mail marketing business, N2N Direct, in the 1990s.
Rosenbaum and his wife started ModVic (from Modern Victorian), a Victorian-home restoration company, in 2007. Combining original Victorian design with modern functionality and convenience, the couple completed one major project before the economy's downturn, but then refocused the business on integrating new technologies and appliances into restored period objects. Today, ModVic is a marketed as a steampunk art and design company, repurposing antiques and salvaged objects into functional and useful residential and commercial items.
Along with producing commissioned pieces for clients, Rosenbaum incorporates his design perspective into the family home in Sharon, Massachusetts, popularly known as "Steampunk House". Their home is also noted as the only functional steampunk art home in the world and has been featured on MTV's Extreme Cribs.
Rosenbaum's projects include his personal computer workstation housed in a Victorian pump organ, a 6-foot mechanical whale for a hotel in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and a late 1800s bandsaw repurposed as a conference table and workstation.
Rosenbaum is also the Chairman of Sharon Historic Commission, Sharon, MA, and a Trustee of the Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation, Waltham, Massachusetts.
In addition, with Dr. Ashleigh Hillier, associate Psychology Professor at UMASS Lowell, Rosenbaum has also created a 9 week program called Steampunkinetics: Building Art into Science for kids on the autism spectrum. The program uses 'Janusian Thinking' and other creative problem solving techniques to turnSTEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) into STEAM (adding art) into STEAMPUNK (adding history).
ModVic Steampunk Art Exhibition, Steampunk World’s Fair, Piscataway NJSteampunk @ Boston Antique & Design Show, Shriner’s Auditorium, Wilmington, MASteampunk @ Pier Show, Pier 94 – Chelsea, New York NYNemo’s Steampunk Art and Invention Gallery, 20,000 Leagues, 5-Wits Attraction, Foxboro MABack Home to Future Expo, Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks, PAMobilis in Mobili: An Exhibition of Art & Appliance, Wooster Street Social Club (NY Ink), New York, NYModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Watch City Festival – Charles River Museum, Waltham MANorman Rockwell Museum Goes Back to the Future with Steampunk Night, Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge MASteampunk Bizarre Exhibition, Mark Twain Museum, Hartford CTSteampunk Form & Function Show & Exhibition, Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, Waltham MAModVic with East Coast Paranormal Research Team, Benjamin Stanley Freeman House, 390 Mount Hope Street, North Attleboro MAHow to Architect Steampunk into Your Design - Steampunk for Architects, ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX), Boston MASteampunkinetics Gallery Show, AFA Gallery – SOHO, New York, NYLiving Steampunk, Boskone 49 – Regional Science Fiction Convention, Boston Westin Waterfront, Boston MAModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Watch City Festival – Charles River Museum, Waltham MALiving Steampunk, Dickens Festival, Salem MASteampunk Dickens and his Villain Heads, Pollard Public Library, Lowell MASteampunk @ CraftBoston, World Trade Center, Boston MASteampunk @ Metro Show, New York NYModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Steampunk Industrial Revolution Festival, Nashua NHLiving Steampunk, FaerieCon, Baltimore MDSteampunk Soiree Steamer and Exhibition, Revolving Museum, Lowell MASteampunk Form & Function Show & Exhibition II, Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation, Waltham MADesigning Steampunk, DESIGN East, Boston MASteampunk @ Antique City, Schaut’s Fun Fair, Bethlehem PASteampunk @ Brimfield Antique Show, Brimfield MASteampunk Historical House Tour, Sharon Historical Society, Sharon MAModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, RiverFest – Assembly Row, Somerville MASteampunk: Nature & Machine, Lockwood Mathews Mansion, Norwalk CTDesigning Steampunk, CreativeMornings Boston, Boston MATime Machines: Robots, Rockets and Steampunk, Shelburne Museum, Shelburne VTVictorian Extreme: American Fancywork and Steampunk, 1850 – Now, Bennington Museum, Bennington VTSteampunk Dickens and his Villain Heads, WaterFire Festival, Old Stone Bank, Providence RIPlasma Light Art and Steampunk Design, International Assn. of Lighting Designers, Charles River Museum, Waltham MAModVic’s World of Steampunk Art & Design, Watch City Festival – Charles River Museum, Waltham MASteampunk @ Pier Show Pier 94 – Chelsea, New York NYSteampunkinetics Rube Goldberg Exhibition’, Northeast Arc, Danvers MASteampunk House Tours, Groupon, Sharon MA20,000 Leagues Steampunk Gala, 5 Wits, Foxboro MASteampunk Springfield: Reimagining an Industrial City, March 21 through September 28, City wide: Springfield Museums, Springfield Armory, UMASS Amherst, Central Library, City-Stage Theater and Springfield Symphony – Springfield, MASteamAble: The Steampunk Wheelchair Project –Florence, MA