Stan Craven, owner of CARSTAR Chicago 38th St., already had an interesting background. He spent more than two decades as an executive with McDonald’s Corp. before getting into the collision repair business. His shop is one of the latest additions to the CARSTAR family, having joined in July of this year. Craven is an avid body builder, and is now also a contributor to the fine arts.

When artist Jeffrey Breslow was looking for someone to do paint work on his sculptures, he stopped by CARSTAR Chicago 38th St. and was impressed with what he saw. Craven’s shop has now painted close to 40 of Breslow’s works to date. The pieces show up at the shop as raw steel, bent into the unique shapes that Breslow designs for his work. The paint colors are picked specifically by Breslow.

Breslow describes his work as contemporary abstract sculptures created as conversations between human creativity and the natural world. Some of the artwork is currently on display at the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower). Breslow’s recent showing at the Willis Tower was the biggest indoor/outdoor gallery showing that the tower has ever held. Craven and the staff at CARSTAR Chicago 38th St. are proud to be a part of something so unique.

“Going into his shop is inspiring to me,” said Craven. “Seeing what goes into it, and seeing how it starts from scratch, and knowing that every piece is his imagination, and how he has a vision with every single piece that he puts on – that’s what inspires me about it. I get to watch it from the ground up, and I know that he names it and it means something, that’s what I really like about it.”