John Zapolski
Graduate Faculty, School of Visual Arts NYC
VP Strategy & Operations, Two Bit Circus
John Zapolski has served on graduate faculty at the School of Visual Arts NYC since 2009; taught at the University of California, Berkeley; and lectured at schools and conferences in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.
He leads product and business development at Two Bit Circus, an immersive entertainment company in Los Angeles, and co-founded Fonderie 47—fine jewelry, timepieces and accessories made from AK47s destroyed in Africa. The brand has demolished more than 35,000 assault weapons and been well-covered by publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, The Financial Times and Harper’s Bazaar.
Zapolski also created the Management Innovation Group, a strategic firm that helped leading companies conceive and implement new business ideas. After merging the consulting practice into Strategos, he led teams at many large companies to identify and pursue market opportunities, create business models, launch products and services and amplify the passion and creativity of their workforce.
Play, Explode, Repeat: Reimagining the Carnival to Inspire Young Inventors
STEAM Carnival is a touring spectacle of high-tech games and attractions made to showcase the wonders of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) as the common ingredients for invention and creativity. John Zapolski, graduate faculty at the School of Visual Arts NYC and VP of strategy and operations at the Two Bit Circus entertainment company in Los Angeles, reveals how STEAM Carnival is engaging tens of thousands of children across the country in the art and science of the thrill.
