MONOLITH KNIVES - Key Persons
RYAN EVANS - Shop Assistant and Knife Maker. Ryan grew up less than a mile from the Monolith shop, always working with his hands and helping with projects around his family home. Ryan has been active in the Boy Scouts of America since kindergarten and after earning his Eagle Scout rank in 2014, has transitioned in to a leadership role in his troop. His first blacksmithing class was at age 11! This interest was fully realized in 2016, when he received his certification in architectural blacksmith from the Virginia Institute of Blacksmithing. Between his scouting and camping with family, his love of knives both as a tool and as art was instilled at an early age. Ryan now spends most of his time learning and assisting in the art of knife making, if not fishing, while also pursuing his Bachelor's degree at Piedmont Virginia Community College.
Job Titles:
- Founder, Creative Director, and Knife Maker
Zack grew up surrounded by a talented and creative family of entrepreneurs and artists from Virginia. Each of them creative, progressive, and successful in their endeavors. As a child, he spent countless hours building cities and machines with legos, later transcending into everything from building tree forts, large fish aquarium projects, elaborate stereo systems, modifying motocross dirt bikes and mountain bikes, customizing cars and vintage motorcycles. All things he learned working with others, or just by trial and error. As a young entrepreneur, Zack gained knowledge of technology and business through exposure to his family's 50 year foray into newspaper publishing.
"I come from a family of men and women who were adventurous, entrepreneurial, thoughtful and creative. These folks were Virginians through and through, and their sense of pride, history, creativity, culture, and "can do" attitude has given me the tools and traits that have led me where I am today." - Zack Worrell
His exposure to working artists, visual art, design, architecture, music, and culture through travel developed and informed his world. As a young graduate of Elon University in 1995, he turned his eye to desktop publishing and graphic design which later transformed into an interest into more hands on work such as industrial design, photography, film and music production. In 2006, he co-founded a community arts organization named The Bridge Progressive Arts Initiative, which seeks to bridge diverse communities through the arts. They promote dialogue and discourse using art as the catalyst.
Zack Worrell, a self-taught artist and designer hand makes functional works of art with purpose, using new and old techniques and the finest materials he can harness. Zack hails from a long line of entrepreneurs, adventurers and craftspeople, scattered across Appalachia. It was no surprise that after being raised in historic Charlottesville, Virginia and seeing amazing parts of the world while traveling with his family as a child, that art and design would inform his world.
"I have been making stuff with my hands since as early as I can remember. I make stuff. It is just what I do." -Zack Worrell
In 2012, that world shifted when his love of furniture making crossed with working with metal. Monolith Studio found its home on his family farm, Fielding, that is nestled down the gravel drive from the Meriwether Lewis birthplace. He has fused his love of natural woods and metals and created the life of a craftsman.
At Monolith, knives are made by hand by Zack and expert craftsmen such as Alan Bates, and Nick Watson. These skilled hands create knives that will pass from one generation to the next. That narrative often starts with a storied piece of wood and a polished blade. Zack's hope is that once a knife is placed in the hands of our client, its story deepens over time with each slice of tomato from the family garden to each cutting of meat from the local farmer.