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Art is how 96-year-old Ed Steinberg leaves mark in Richmond

Posted at 4:48 PM, Sep 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-09-23 23:28:37-04

RICHMOND, Va. – Everywhere you look in Ed Steinberg’s home, you’ll find paintings, prints, and clocks.

The lack of empty wall space is the end result of collecting and creating for decades.

At the tender age of 96, the Richmond man eats, sleeps, and breathes art.

“I guess it’s another way of keeping me off the streets I guess,” says Ed.

Following a stint in the Navy, Steinberg opened Richmond’s popular dress shop ‘A Sunny Day,’ and also a laundromat, but artwork proved to be his passion.

Ed earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from VCU and hasn’t looked back.

Ed Steinberg

Ed Steinberg

“It has been interesting,” he says.

Ed snaps photos wherever he goes.

“All over Europe, South America. China. Hong Kong,” says Ed. “I had a camera so I had (taken) all of these pictures.”

Those photographs become screened prints big and small.

Ed Steinberg photography

Ed Steinberg photography

“I guess it’s maybe like looking at a child and saying that it’s mine,” Ed says.

As for tapping creative juices so late in life?

“The juices are there but they’re not in the quantity. Instead of a gallon you’ve got a quart,” says Ed.

Ed just might be the hippest 96 year old you know. When was the last time you met a WWII veteran with an earring?

“I got that for a long time. My kids got that for me,” says Ed. “I think I was 70 when I got it.”

A highlight of Ed’s art career arrived in July.

“It was a nice opening. Lots of people,” says Ed.

This summer, Ed was featured in a one-man art exhibit at the Weinstein Jewish Community Center in Richmond. During the exhibit Ed sold a dozen of his works of art.

“The money is nice, but it is the acceptance,” says Ed. “The fact that someone wanted your painting. Something you created.”

Ed Steinberg photography

Ed Steinberg art

Ed says as people enter their golden years others should not write them off because of their age.

“You never know. You look at a person and they look like everyone else and they discover they can do something and you discover that there is a difference there and they’re not like everyone else,” says Ed.

Ed Steinberg

Ed Steinberg

Ed promises to keep creating. The trouble might be finding wall space to hang it inside his home.

“Like the old saying ‘you can’t hit a moving target so keep moving,’ says Ed. “If you find something you like do it. Don’t let the age number stop you.”

If you have a story to tell, I would love to hear from you. Email reporter Greg McQuade here.

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