Originally from Texas, Art saw a hot air balloon for the first time at the age of 16 while digging a garden, and thought, “that would be a lot better job than this.” From that point forward he became fascinated and intrigued by the thought of one day flying his very own hot air balloon. Fast forward five years and he found himself in Albuquerque, walking across Balloon Fiesta Field in 1997, when he was asked by a pilot if he could give them a hand. After working with her for a week, Art fell in love with the sport and got a job as crew chief for a local ride company. After years of crewing and saving he bought a balloon and began gathering flight hours throughout the US and Canada, and finally received his commercial license in 2005. Once he received his commercial license he was able to start giving Albuquerque the best hot air balloon rides in the state! So far he has had the opportunity to fly in Mexico, US, Canada, and Eastern Europe.