By Priya Hutner
Fred Besch and his partner Amye Cole on his sculpture in downtown Truckee.
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“I love how things come together and seeing how they work.”
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[dropcap1]F[/dropcap1]red Besch is a brilliant and creative artist. Growing up with four brothers on a 130-acre farm in Upstate New York, selling hay and grass-fed beef and lamb, Besch was fascinated with all things mechanical from an early age.
Before he could drive, Besch convinced his father to take him to the local mechanic shop, Steve’s Automotive, to ask if he could work there. At 13, Besch wanted to learn how to build and race cars. Steve Wick took Besch under his wing.
“My mentors growing up were Steve Wicks and Don Ackner. Steve was the main reason I could race, he later became my crew chief later in my dirt track racing career and Don was a top driver and champion from my home track. He maintained his car at Steve’s automotive. He let me be part of his pit crew before I was old enough to race my own car,” Besch explained.
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He purchased his first racecar for $50. “I installed a roll cage and rebuilt the engine, I raced it two weeks after my fifteenth birthday,” Besch said. “I got lapped eight times and didn’t even care.” Besch has raced in Daytona and Watkins Glen and continued racing until he was in late 20s.
Besch received his masters in landscape architecture, and started his own landscape company in upstate New York and eventually moved to Truckee. A landscape contractor, Besch owns Earthworks, a Truckee-based landscape construction company that also provides excavation work. It’s no surprise that he drives big machinery for a living.
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Exploring kinetic sculpture
Fred Besch & Amye Cole ride Besch’s creation “Tron.”
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Burning Man has been inspirational to Besch. Inspired by the creativity and ingenuity of artists on the playa, Besch says that he was transformed. This experience led him to create kinetic bike sculptures and he’s created three bikes to date and has plans for a fourth.
“I love how things come together and seeing how they work,” he said.
Besch has raced his kinetic bikes in the Kinetic Grand Championship held in Arcadia. The race is a three-day, 42-mile event in which each kinetic vehicle crosses sand, water and pavement using human-peddle power.
What struck me while speaking with Besch was his depth of curiosity. When he meets people he poses a different type of question then what do you do.
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He digs a bit deeper much like his excavation work, “I don’t ask people what they do, I ask them what are you into? It opens up a whole different discussion.”
Besch has inspired other folks to follow their heart and dreams and create their own magic with art cars and kinetic bikes. His latest art creation, a Kinetic Bike Sculpture, was commissioned by the town of Truckee and was recently installed next to The Flying A in downtown. It was installed as part of Bricklletown’s Phase 1 revitalization program.
Besch, ever generous and kind, is always paying it forward to the people in his life that have supported him along the way. Besch’s work is also displayed in Atelier and Bespoke in downtown Truckee.
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Fred Besch may be reached at fredbeschdesigns.com.
