Alfred Czerepak

1928 - 1986

Al Czerepak could create art out of just about anything, from an oar cast up on the beach, from an old window frame, from scrap metal salvaged from a landfill. One observer wrote that Czerepak was "one of the best multi-media artists (she) had ever known ... he could see something in everything." 

Alfred "Al" Czerepak was born in 1928 in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and received art training in Boston immediately following World War Two. Czerepak was introduced to Cape Ann as a result of his study under Aldro Hibbard at what is now the Massachusetts College of Art and at Hibbard's summer art school which was held in Rockport from 1920 to 1949. In Rockport, Czerepak quickly became part of a small but energetic group of young artists who were devoted to exploring new theories and techniques, to pushing the boundaries of Cape Ann's largely conservative art colony. Czerepak taught life drawing and sculpture courses at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, inspiring a whole generation of artists who studied under him during his 15 years at the school.