Born and raised in Colorado, Wayne Collins was introduced to metals in junior high shop learning basic foundry, welding and processing skills. His fascination with the industrial arts programs continued through high school, where he combined drafting, metal shop and wood shop to create more advanced work including a half size cherry roll top desk and a metal tool box he still uses 30 years later.

Upon moving to Breckenridge in 1987 Wayne gravitated to construction specializing in concrete masonry. Quickly finding his way back into metals, he worked at Breck Ironworks for several years fabricating custom bath tub frames, fire pit sculptures and various architectural pieces. In 2009 he accepted a position with ECD Metal Works and was introduced to non-ferrous metals fabricating custom pieces for P.F. Chang’s, Yard House Brewery, and Cartier Jewelers.

Always yearning to be involved in creating monumental public sculpture, Wayne landed the dream job as a project foreman and lead welder for Eldorado Climbing Wall Company. He traveled the country erecting welded steel structures covered in high pressure concrete. As it cured, Wayne and a team of artists would carve the concrete. After carving was complete, he then used specialized paint and staining techniques to mimic iconic rock formations as tall as 65 feet.

Wayne returned to Summit County full time in 2018 to spend more time with his girlfriend and to help care for their aging red fox lab. He is currently employed at Breck Ironworks as a lead fabricator and production manager, once again fabricating custom fire pit sculptures.

When Wayne is not creating art on the clock, he can be found in his studio pushing techniques outside of the normal bandwidth to create architectural pieces, monumental public art and scaled down work intended for a gallery setting.