Adalin Wichman (1922 – March 10, 2013) was an American sculptor and artist from the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. Wichman designed the Eclipse Award Trophy in 1971, which are awarded to horses and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

sport. Her work also included jewelry design, paintings,

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

sculptures, and

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this re ...

. Examples of her work can be found in public and private collections worldwide, including the art collection of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, the

Kentucky Derby Museum The Kentucky Derby Museum is an American Thoroughbred horse racing museum located on the grounds of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Dedicated to preserving the history of the Kentucky Derby, it first opened its doors to the public in the s ...

and the

Lexington Public Library The Lexington Public Library opened in 1905 in Lexington, Kentucky. It incorporated the collection of the former Lexington Library Company (est.1801) and the former Transylvania Library (est.1795). Today the main location of the Lexington Public ...

Life

She was born in Paris, Kentucky, in 1922. She earned her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

. She married her husband, architect William Wichman, and settled in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, where she pursued a career as an artist. She also taught English. Adalin Wichman served as the adverting director for Keeneland, a Kentucky thoroughbred horse racing facility, from 1969 until 1989. In 1971, Keeneland's J.B. Faulconer asked Wichman to create a bronze

statuette A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cl ...

to serve as the prize for the Thoroughbred Racing Association's Eclipse Award. Wichman based her design for the Eclipse Award Trophy on an 18th-century painting of the undefeated English racehorse,

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

. The first Eclipse Awards, featuring Wichman's trophy, was held in 1972 to honor the 1971 racing season. In addition equestrian pieces, Wichman also created other non-equestrian works as well. She created the Foucault pendulum clock, which is displayed in the rotunda of the

. Wichman designed a two-sided bust of the Kentuckian historian

Thomas D. Clark Thomas Dionysius Clark (July 14, 1903 – June 28, 2005) was an American historian. Clark saved from destruction a large portion of Kentucky's printed history, which later became a core body of documents in the Kentucky Department for Libraries and ...

, which is housed at the Lexington History Museum. Her painting of

Lucille Caudill Little Lucille Caudill Little (August 20, 1909 – October 8, 2002) was an American patron of the arts and philanthropist who served as president of the W. Paul and Lucille Caudill Little Foundation in Lexington, Kentucky. Biography Mary Lucille Cau ...

can be found hanging in the Little Fine Arts Library at the

. Wichman was awarded the Milner Award in 2011, the highest prize awarded by the Kentucky Governor's Awards in the Arts. Adalin Wichman died from a brief illness at her home in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 10, 2013, at the age of 91. She was survived by her two daughters, Adrian and Alison. Her husband, William, died in 2000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wichman, Adalin 1922 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American painters American women painters 21st-century American painters Painters from Kentucky Artists from Lexington, Kentucky 20th-century American sculptors American women sculptors Sculptors from Kentucky Actresses from Kentucky 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists University of Kentucky alumni