Benjamin Victor (sculptor)
Benjamin Matthew Victor (January 16, 1979 in Taft, CA) is an American sculptor and Artist-in-Residence and Professor of the Practice at Boise State University.[1] He is best known for his sculpture of Sarah Winnemucca, Paiute activist in Nevada, which her home state installed in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol in 2005. At age 26, he became the youngest artist to have a work in the National Statuary Hall. [2][3]
Early life
Benjamin Matthew Victor was born in 1979 in Taft, California. He grew up in Bakersfield. After completing high school, he lived in for a time in Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, studying art and sculpture.[2][4]
Career
Victor’s first work to receive attention was a life-size statue of the biblical character Samson, sculpted when the artist was a sophomore art major at Northern State University. The piece earned Victor a scholarship "in recognition of his aesthetic and conceptual integrity" from the prestigious National Sculpture Society in New York City. At age 23, Victor was commissioned to produce his proposal of a trio of soldiers for the Aberdeen Regional Airport War Memorial in South Dakota.
Victor has completed numerous commissions from city, institutions and non-profits for public art works throughout the West and upper Midwest, often to commemorate individuals or groups. He was commissioned by the state of Nevada to make sculptures of Sarah Winnemucca, a 19th-century Paiute activist, one for installation in 2005 at its capital and one to be installed as one of Nevada's official works in the United States Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol Building, Washington, D.C. At age 26, Victor was the youngest sculptor to have a work installed at the hall.
Notable works
- Aberdeen Monument to Firefighters, Aberdeen Fire Department, Station #1, Aberdeen, South Dakota
- Belle Babb Mansfield, monument to the First Female Attorney, Iowa Wesleyan College, Iowa[5]
- Community, Wells Avenue, Reno, Nevada[6]
- Delilah, Avenue of the Arts, Gillette, Wyoming
- Falls Past and Falls Today, Gateway to the Falls, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Independence, S. Wells Avenue and Roberts Street, Reno, Nevada
- Kansas State Monument to Firefighters, Kansas State Capitol Building, Topeka, Kansas
- Make a Wish Boy and Girl, Make a Wish Building, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Monument to 1st Battalion 1st Marines, Castaways Park, Newport Beach, California[7][8]
- Monument to Firefighters, Fire Station #5, Lawrence, Kansas
- Monument to WWII Airmen, Boise Airport, Boise, Idaho [9]
- Portrait of Terry Redlin, Redlin Art Center, Redlin, South Dakota[10]
- ReTrac Corridor Sculpture Project, ReTrac Corridor, Reno, Nevada
- Robert the Bruce, Private Collection, Linlithgow, Scotland
- Samson, Atlanta, Georgia
- Samson the Mighty, Avenue of the Arts, Gillette, Wyoming
- Sarah Winnemucca, U.S. National Statuary Hall, Washington, D.C. and Nevada State Capitol Building, Carson City, Nevada
- Sequoyah, Private Collection, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- The Seasons, United Clinic, Aberdeen, South Dakota
- War Memorial Sculpture, Aberdeen Regional Airport, South Dakota
- Where Cultures Meet, California State University - Dominguez Hills, Carson, California
References
- ↑ "NSU Employee Directory". Northern State University. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- 1 2 "Oilworkers Monument Groundbreaking". The Taft Independent. 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "Reid Speech at Sarah Winnemucca Statue Dedication". Democrats.senate.gov. 2005-05-09. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "Winnemucca sculptor selected". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2004-02-10. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "Belle Babb Mansfield Dedication". Heartland Connection. 2008-04-25. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "Wells-to-do". Reno News and Reviews. 2006-01-26. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "Statue honoring Marine Battalion Unveiled in Newport". The Orange County Register. 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "Tribute To Be Semper Fi". Newport Beach Daily Pilot. 2007-11-10. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "New Statue At Boise Airport". Fox News Idaho. 2009-05-25. Retrieved 2010-08-18.
- ↑ "Sculpture Unveiled on August 4, 2007". Redlin Art Center. 2007-08-04. Retrieved 2010-08-18.