Bruce was hired to work at NASA from 1986 to 1989. During this time, he created six paintings and pastels, which reside today in the NASA art collection. He also did several paintings for the Astronauts Memorial Foundation, which raises money for families of astronauts who died or were injured in their work.
“My interest in space travel has been a lifelong love. I have been fascinated by space adventures since 1957 when Russia sent Sputnik into space, and my mom woke us up at 2 am to see it moving across the sky. President Kennedy took NASA to the next level with the promise to put a man on the moon before the decade was out. As a kid, I learned the names of the astronauts and drew pictures of them, along with the rockets that were being developed by NASA. When the Challenger disaster occurred in 1986, I reopened that space in my head. Lo and behold, the NASA art program contacted me around the same time, inviting me to go to White Sands, New Mexico. I was so excited. That was the beginning of this aspect of my career involving the space program.” – Bruce
