Sketches to Sculptures: Rendered Reality, Sixty Years with Marshall M. Fredericks February 12 to June 12, 2010 Teacher’s Guide Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Saginaw Valley State University 7400 Bay Rd. University Center, MI 48710 www.marshallfredericks.org (989) 964-7125 Sketches to Sculptures: Rendered Reality, Sixty Years with Marshall M. Fredericks The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum curated a traveling exhibition as part of the Strategic Plan 2008-2010. Now with the archives available for research and the museum collection accessioned, this exhi- bition has become a reality. Co-curated by Melissa Ford, Archivist C.A. and Geoffe Haney, Registrar, the exhibi- tion includes 36 drawings, 1 photograph and 33 sculptures. Each piece of sculpture has at least one drawing that is paired with it. Some sculptures may have as many as 3 or 4 drawings exhibited with it. Drawings range from small sketches from sketchbooks to larger presentation drawings in pastel, watercolor, crayon or pencil. The exhibition centers on Fredericks' thinking and artistic process. Many of the drawings include handwritten notes by Fredericks which articulate his ideas about particular sculptures. Several of the draw- ings depict alternate ideas for extant sculptures which were either rejected by Fredericks or the client and provide a unique insight into the design process. This traveling exhibition is available for rental after July 2010. For more information about renting this exhibition contact Marilyn Wheaton, Director at (989) 964-7154. Information on the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Location: The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum is located on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University in the Arbury Fine Arts Center, 7400 Bay Rd., University Center, MI 48710. Contact Information: Phone…………..… (989) 964-7125 Fax………………… (989) 964-7221 Email………………. [email protected] Website………...… www.marshallfredericks.org The Collection: The Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Collection features a unique collection of hun- dreds of works that span the career of Marshall M. Fredericks (1908-1998), a traditional figurative public sculptor, who remained active in his metro-Detroit studios until days before his death at age 90. He is known nationally and internationally for his monumental figurative sculpture, public memorials, public fountains, portraits, animals and whimsical animal figures. Main Gallery The Main Gallery features a unique collection of hundreds of works that span the career of Marshall M. Fred- ericks (1908‐1998), a traditional figurative sculptor, who remained active in his metro Detroit studios until days before his death at 90. He is known nationally and internationally for his monumental figurative sculp- ture, public memorials, public fountains, portraits, animals and whimsical animal figures. The Main Gallery includes about 200 works, mostly plaster models, which span a 70‐year career of sculpting. The museum holdings include plaster models, cast and carved sculptures, medals, jewelry, miniatures, drawings, photos, site models, molds, armatures, tools, machinery and archival materials. Main Gallery highlights include: Christ on the Cross in Indian River, Michigan; the Fountain of Eternal Life in Cleveland, Ohio; The Expanding Uni- verse Fountain at the State Department in Washington, D.C.; the Freedom of the Human Spirit in Flushing Meadow Park, New York City; the Leaping Gazelle for The Levi Barbour Fountain at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michi- gan; The Spirit of Detroit at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit; and The Ford Empire and Har- lequin Reliefs at Ford Auditorium in Detroit. The Sculptor’s Studio The Sculptor’s Studio displays a permanent exhibit of objects and artifacts from Fredericks’ studio. After his death in 1998, his entire collection of archives, artwork, studio tools, equipment and some personal items became part of the museum’s collection. These items are arranged in a sequence that explains the casting process. A large didactic panel on the lost‐wax and sand‐casting methods further explains the casting 2 process. Visitors also can view a kiosk of original images of Fredericks’ studio interior and exterior, the Sculp- ture Garden and an extended version of the video “The Magic of Marshall Fredericks: The Poet Lord Byron.” The Sculptor’s Studio furthers the mission of the museum and fulfills Fredericks’ wish of educating visitors about the process of fine art casting. Temporary Exhibition Galleries The Temporary Exhibition Galleries feature changing exhibitions of national, regional and international artists and showcase works from the museum collection. Its first exhibition was Cranbrook Fundamentals, which opened October 11, 2003, and closed March 20, 2004. Past exhibitions are listed below. Contemporary American Sculpture from the Collection of the Flint Institute of Arts (April 30, 2004 to April 30, 2005) Prints by Sculptors: From the Collection of the Flint Institute of Arts (April 30 to August 28, 2004) Visiting Scholar & Artist Series: Paul Rotterdam: Drawings (October 8, 2004, to January 22, 2005), in conjunction with the Dow Visiting Artist Series The Preacher and His Congregation: From the Collection of the Flint Institute of Arts, Photo- graphs by James Perry Walker (February 7 to March 19, 2005), in conjunction with Black History Month Marshall M. Fredericks, (1908‐1998), (April 15 to August 28, 2005) The Armature Revealed: From the Collection of the Marshall Fredericks Sculpture Museum (June 10 to September 24, 2005) Nature Transformed: Wood Art from the Bohlen Collection (October 14, 2005 to April 30, 2006) Marshall M. Fredericks: Selected Works from the Collection (June 1 to January 19, 2007) Cultural Reflections, Inuit Art from the Collections of the Dennos Museum Center (February 2 to May 19, 2007) Pewabic Pottery: Patronage, Private Residences, Public Buildings, Sacred Spaces, (June 1 to September 29, 2007) David Hostetler: Wood and Bronze Sculptures, October 12, 2007 to January 26, 2008 Street Sense: A 20 year retrospective of Tyree Guyton and the Heidelberg Project, (Feb. 8 to May 24, 2008) Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition, (June 13 to Sept. 20, 2008) Tangents and Waves: The Art of David Barr and Diane Carr, (Oct. 3, 2008 to Jan. 31, 2009) Thayer and Thayer, Paintings and Sculpture, (Feb. 7 to May 29, 2009) The Softness of Iron: Welded Sculptures by Orna Ben-Ami, (June 12 to September 19, 2009) Breaking the Mold: Contemporary Chinese and Japanese Ceramic Sculpture and Textile Extensions: Quilts in a New Context, (October 2, 2009 to January 28, 2010) Sketches to Sculptures: Rendered Reality, Sixty Years with Marshall M. Fredericks, (February 12 to June 12, 2010) See www.marshallfredericks.org to view photos and videos of past and current exhibitions. Sculpture Garden School groups can include a Sculpture Garden tour as part of their visit. There are approximately two dozen of Fredericks’ sculptures on campus; most of them are close to the museum. Admission: Admission to the Museum is free to walk-in visitors. Tour Information: Museum tours can be scheduled by calling 989-964-7096. Arrangements for tours should be made 4 weeks in advance. 3 Marshall M. Fredericks (1908‐1998) Mr. Fredericks was born of Scandinavian heritage in Rock Island, Illinois on January 31, 1908. His family moved to Florida for a short time and then settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up. He graduated from the Cleveland School of Art in 1930 and journeyed abroad on a fellowship to study with Carl Milles (1875‐1955) in Sweden. After a few months he studied at other academies and private studios in Germany and traveled extensively in Denmark, France, Italy, and North Africa. In 1932 Fredericks was invited by Carl Milles, who had since moved to the United States, to join the staffs of Cranbrook Academy of Art and Cranbrook and Kingswood Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Fredericks taught sculpture and ceramics there until 1942 when he en- listed in the Air Force. In 1945 he was honorable discharged as a lieuten- ant colonel. After World War II, the sculptor worked continuously on his nu- merous commissions for fountains, memorials, free‐standing sculptures, reliefs, and portraits in bronze and other materials. Many of his works have spiritual intensity, lighthearted humor and a warm and gentle humanist spirit like that found in Freder- icks himself. A winner of many important awards, Mr. Fredericks has exhibited his work throughout the United States and abroad. Many of his sculptures can be found in many national, public, and private collections. He resided in Birmingham with his wife Rosalind Cooke until his death in April of 1998; they had five children and eight grandchildren. He also held studios at 4113 North Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak and on East Long Lake Road in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan until 1998. After his death the contents of his studios were gifted to the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University. Museum History Mrs. Dorothy (Honey) Arbury had studied with Fredericks when she attended Kingswood School at the Cran- brook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, in the 1930s. She also knew him through her uncle, Alden B. Dow, a prominent Midland architect with whom Fredericks worked on architectural sculpture projects. Honey Arbury was on the founding Board of Control of Saginaw Valley College in 1963 and remained active on that board and on the SVSU Foundation Board into the 1990s. Honey Arbury and her husband, Ned, and Fredericks and his wife, Rosalind, generated the idea of a permanent exhibit of Fredericks' work adjacent to SVSU’s then‐new facilities for its art, music and theater departments. SVSU and the Arburys worked togeth- er toward an agreement to have the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Gallery and Sculpture Garden built ad- jacent to the art department. The gallery opened to the public in the Arbury Fine Arts Center in May 1988. The gallery became a museum in 1999. In October 2003, the $2.5 million Phase II expansion became a reality, nearly doubling the museum’s size.