Tom Tsuchiya is best known for creating the plaques for the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 2016 and the sculptures of Cincinnati Reds players at Great American Ball Park. In addition, Tom has been recognized for his innovative, social art including The Spirit of Christ at Biola University in Los Angeles and Atlas Recycled, which is now on exhibit at University of Cincinnati. Recently, he collaborated with local, aerospace engineers from GE Aviation to create a cantilevered sculpture of Pete Rose sliding headfirst. This sculpture was unveiled at Great American Ball Park in June 2017. Tom’s passion for creating sculpture began in Sherwin Little’s Latin classes at Indian Hill Middle and High School where he was introduced to the great sculptures of the Classical world. This led him to create a terra cotta sculpture of the Chimera for the 1988 NJCL Convention- winning the Best of Show award. Subsequently, he enrolled at the University of Cincinnati’s Classics Department where he received his BA in Classical Civilization. During that time, Tom began his apprenticeship with noted artists Carin Hebenstreit and Richard Miller. Classical education shaped Tom’s sculptural philosophy in 2 significant ways. First, creating sculptures that have a breath of life. Secondly, designing sculptures to be integral to everyday life. On Atlas Recycled aka The Anthropocene (2010) After I complete a bronzes sculpture like the Reds players, I often have left -over material such as foam, wood, and steel. Instead of throwing the material into the trash, I keep the scraps for future sculpture projects. In 2010, I created Atlas Recycled from some of my scrap material including a black iron pipe, welded, steel rebar and a wood platform and a hollow fiberglass sphere. Pieces of 30 maps including AAA and National Geographic maps clad the entire surface. The only non-scrap material used was the polymer sphere. Atlas was originally made to celebrate Earth Month at Cincinnati’s Fountain Square. I felt Atlas was the perfect subject matter for the event since he was the Greek titan who held the Earth on his shoulders. This interpretation of Atlas takes one step further: Atlas Recycled promotes environmental awareness and sustainability by serving as a receptacle for recyclable material including aluminum, plastic, glass and paper. There is a trap door to remove all the contents. I felt sculptures that are made of reused materials are played out, so I came up with this idea of a receptacle. After debuting at Cincinnati’s Fountain Square, Atlas including other versions of it, have been exhibited at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, Washington D.C.’s National Mall and London’s Imperial College. At 2015’s international ArtPrize, the world’s most attended art event, Atlas Recycled was recognized as a “Top 25 Installation.” Over the years, Atlas has collected several hundred pounds of recyclable material. Atlas’s alternative title is The Anthropocene because this sculpture also symbolizes humankind’s ability to shape Earth’s geological record since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Fun fact: A map of Cincinnati is located on Atlas’ chest- a tribute to his maker’s hometown.