Minnesotan To Meet: Artist Phil Vandervaart

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If you take a stroll in Minneapolis or St. Paul, chances are pretty good you've seen his work. Phil Vandervaart has been painting signs across the Twin Cities for more than three decades.

His work was featured in a book called "Sign Painters" by Faythe Levine, calling attention to the men and woman who are dedicated to design with a brush.

How he got his start on store fronts is what makes him a Minnesotan to Meet. Vandervaart has always been up for adventure.

"I was one of those kids that hitchhiked to San Francisco in the '70s," said Phil Vandervaart while painting a Minneapolis business.

After landing out west for a while, he decided Minnesota was the perfect place to call home.

"Of all the places I traveled I just really liked Minneapolis," said Vandervaart, who grew up on the south side of Chicago. "I moved here on my 30th birthday."

His first job was not painting, but rather driving.

"I was driving school buses and for extra money I washed the school buses on the weekends," said Vandervaart. "He was making these little one pencil line markings, what all these letters would be, and then taking a brush and freehand lettering [on the school buses]."

Soon he was painting store fronts all over town.

"I did all these little antique stores, and a book store, and a piano store and all kinds of little coffee shops, just all kinds of stuff," said Vandervaart, who believes his number is in the hundreds or thousands of businesses over the years.

His art scatters the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Places near the University of Minnesota like: Palmer's Bar, Midwest Mountaineering and Cedar Cultural Center.

"I always considered my signs half a living and half public art," said Phil. "It's going to be there for 20 years, maybe. If it's a restaurant it'll be there for at least five."

His latest project is for Clockwork in Minneapolis. It took him about a week.

"Everything I do is totally visible to the public. After 30, almost 35 years ... in this case, this is the fourth time I've painted this building," said Vandervaart referencing the Clockwork building.

Thirty-five years later he is still waking up every morning, doing a job he loves everyday.