Researching Ken Sprague

Sprague was concerned with how politics affected the ordinary person. "In essence, the leitmotif of his work is about power and the abuse of power as well as the resilience of ordinary working people to this abuse... It is an art of engagement – engagement for change." Martin Rowson said "Ken's art has the power and strength to inspire. He is the true heir, as a socialist artist, of William Morris."

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sprague had a passion for sports since childhood. While still in school, he actively pursued track and field, football, boxing, Olympic weightlifting, and bodybuilding. He competed in numerous Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championships and won the Mr. Cincinnati bodybuilding title in 1967. After enrolling at the University of Cincinnati, Sprague was encouraged by a friend to try modeling, which led him to COLT male erotica studio in New York City. At first, he posed nude for several gay publications, but soon he was asked to travel to California where he starred in a handful of hardcore gay porn clips under the name Dakota. His instant popularity in the porn industry brought him enough money and contacts to establish his own independent film studio and purchase the Gold's Gym in 1972.

After the modest beginnings following his purchase of the then declining fitness club, Sprague managed to make Gold's a household name. Sponsoring bodybuilding competitions such as AAU Mr. America, it caught the attention of press and was soon dubbed "the Mecca of bodybuilding". It was frequented by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dave Draper, and featured in the 1977 docudrama Pumping Iron. Sprague sold Gold's in 1979 and later moved to Eugene, Oregon to focus on his family. He wrote and published several books about bodybuilding and worked as a teacher of mathematics and science. In 1999, he and his wife moved to Marietta, Georgia where he worked as a teacher at Marietta High School until his retirement in 2010.