| Sunday, February 8, 2004 Deconstructing Olencki By Kim Atchley Sometimes Mark Olencki just disappears. But it is then that his wife Diana knows he is off capturing bits of Spartanburg and creating a historical legacy few know exists. Olencki Graphics stands on South Pine Street as a tribute to Olencki's skill, not just as a photographer or graphic designer, but as a self-taught entrepreneur. "Mark is a visual problem-solver," said Diana Olencki. Seeing the world differently is talent, but turning that into a successful business is something Olencki credits to his years of study at Wofford College. "Wofford taught me how to think. I'm not afraid of mistakes," he said. Olencki discovered Wofford while still a high school student in Florence. He focused his studies in art and had the benefit of what he calls "the golden years" of collaboration between Wofford and Converse. "I lived at Wofford, but took most of my classes in the Converse art department. It was the best of both worlds and I learned versatility with that liberal arts education," he said. Now when interns come to him for training, he says he learns as much from them as he offers. In the early 1980s, timing was right for the birth of Olencki Graphics. Many large companies were disbanding their own graphics departments and out-sourcing projects. With a strong freelance reputation, Olencki made the transition. Since then, he's used his creative problem-solving to tackle thousands of projects using the latest in technology. "I've been waiting 20 years for the kind of prints he can produce," said Peter Schmunk, professor of art history at Wofford College. "What he's been able to do is quite astonishing. Part is technology, the other is that he's put the effort into learning what is needed to produce the extraordinary." For years, Olencki has maintained a working relationship with his alma mater, completing various jobs for the school. But Schmunk trusted Olencki with printing his own fine art photographs. Schmunk's work is currently on display with that of biology professor G.R. Davis in the Sandor Teszler library gallery at the school. With all the latest technology at hand, Olencki admits friends laugh because he still loves to get in the darkroom. "There's magic in a print coming up out of the developer. It's just as magical for me now as it was in 1971 when I first saw it happen in high school," he said. And traditional film is still his medium of choice when he sets out on photographic explorations. Olencki has been connected with the Hub City Writers Project since he sketched out their logo on a napkin nearly a decade ago while having coffee with friends who started the organization. "Hub City has a certain mystique to it, and when people think of Hub City, the visual images that come to mind are all Mark Olencki. I think he is a genius," said Betsy Teter, the organization's executive director. "He's also a perfectionist. We owe the success of this press to the hundreds of hours he has put in just making sure everything is up to his personal standards. He's definitely the unsung hero of Hub City." When taking a break from the many projects he's tackling, Olencki disappears to capture Spartanburg on film. "He has thousands of images no one has ever seen," said his wife. "His historic contribution to Spartanburg is and will continue to be significant." Kim Atchley
is a freelance writer |