John McClarey Sculpture Demonstration –
Free!
Friday, July 11
5-8 pm
Madden Arts Center, 125 N. Water St., Downtown Decatur
John will be demonstrating a
Lincoln work in progress outside the Madden Arts Center on Friday, July
11 during the First Friday Gallery Walk. Hear how he researches and
creates his portraits of our 16th president.
Be sure to visit all four downtown gallery sites during the Gallery
Walk:
Anne Lloyd Gallery at the Madden Arts Center
Blue Connection, 117 N. Water St.
Gallery 510, 160 E. Main St.
Richland Community College exhibit at the Lincoln Square Theatre, 141 N.
Main St.
ABOUT ARTIST, JOHN MCCLAREY
John McClarey is an extraordinarily gifted sculptor who
concentrates primarily on the form of Abraham Lincoln. The artist's
fascination with Lincoln comes to life in several sculptures he created
in his Decatur studio. His most recent work, a life-sized sculpture of
Lincoln in bronze, was created on commission by the University of
Illinois Library and the Gerda B. Morteson Center for International
Library Programs, and now resides in the Russian State Library for
Foreign Literature in Moscow. McClarey's sculptures can be found in a
number of museums and private collections, including the Henry Horner
Lincoln Collection of the Illinois State Historical Library and the
Lincoln Home National Historic Site.
McClarey, a Decatur, Illinois native, worked as a high school history
teacher for 26 years, specializing in Lincoln and Illinois Indians. He
has been sculpting for 25 years, with Lincoln as his most frequent
subject. He has also sculpted such figures as Black Hawk, Robert E. Lee
and Ronald Reagan. He most recently finished a piece of the Lincoln
Family with their two children. It is currently on view at the Lincoln
Home Historic Site. McClarey is now working on a line of sculptures
called "Americana", which features such figures as an American farmer, a
"country school marm," and a stump preacher.