Lawrence Joseph Nowlan Jr. (January 11, 1965 – July 30, 2013) was an American sculptor and figurative artist known for his statues of notable individuals, including
Harry Kalas
Harold Norbert Kalas (March 26, 1936 – April 13, 2009) was an American sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, a position he held fr ...
and
Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
. Nowlan also designed memorials, including the firefighter sculptures at the
Wildland Firefighters National Monument
The Wildland Firefighters National Monument is an American monument and memorial dedicated to wildland and wildfire firefighters. The monument, which is located on one acre of land, stands on the grounds of the National Interagency Fire Center's ( ...
in
Boise
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...
,
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
, which was his first commission as a sculptor, and the
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
in
Windsor, Vermont
Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As the "Birthplace of Vermont", the town is where the Constitution of Vermont was adopted in 1777, thus marking the founding of the Vermont Republic, a sovereign state until 1791, when ...
. Additionally, Nowlan created the statuette awarded by several major ceremonies, including the
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPY Award
An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
and the
My VH1 Music Awards The My VH1 Music Awards is an annual music award ceremony held by American television network VH1 held in both 2000 and 2001. Categories, nominees, and winners were selected entirely by public voting at VH1.com. The ceremonies were held at the Shri ...
. He was working on an 8-foot, 800 pound statue of Philadelphia boxer,
Joe Frazier
Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure fi ...
, at the time of his death in 2013.
Biography
Early life and education
Nowlan was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, Pennsylvania, to Lawrence and Jeanne Nowlan. He was the grandson of the Science fiction writer,
Philip Francis Nowlan
Philip Francis Nowlan (; November 13, 1888 – February 1, 1940) was an American science fiction writer, best known as the creator of Buck Rogers.
Biography
Nowlan was born on November 13, 1888. While attending the University of Pennsylvania, N ...
, best known as the creator of
Buck Rogers
Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...
. Nowlan was raised in Philadelphia's Overbrook neighborhood before the family moved to nearby
Merion, Pennsylvania
Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower M ...
. He graduated from
Archbishop John Carroll High School
Archbishop John Carroll High School is a four-year secondary school part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, located in Radnor, Pennsylvania, on a 55-acre campus.
History
Archbishop John Carroll High School was opened in September ...
in
Radnor, Pennsylvania
Radnor is a community located approximately 13 miles west of Philadelphia, in the Main Line suburbs. It straddles Montgomery and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania. The community was named after Radnor, in Wales.
Radnor is home to Cabrini Universi ...
.
He received his
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
Millersville University
Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the fourteen schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher E ...
in
Millersville, Pennsylvania
Millersville is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. At the 2020 census the population was 7,629 and in 2021 it was estimated at 7,593.
Geography
Millersville is located in central Lancaster County at (40.006148, -76.35134 ...
, in 1987. He took a position with a Philadelphia
advertising agency
An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...
as an
art director
Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games.
It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...
and designer after graduating from Millersville. Though the ad agency paid well, Nowlan later described himself as "miserable" in a 1999 interview with the ''
Valley News
The ''Valley News'' (and ''Sunday Valley News'') is a seven-day morning daily newspaper based in Lebanon, New Hampshire, covering the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont, in the United States.
Although the newspaper's offices are i ...
''.
Nowlan first became interested in sculpture accidentally after coming across the works of
Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
in Philadelphia. He enrolled in a night class in sculpture at the
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is a museum and private art school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.art school
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-seco ...
.
Nowlan was accepted to the New York Academy of Art Graduate School of Figurative Art, where he earned a master's degree in 1996. His enrollment at the New York Academy of Art proved to be a turning point in his career. He earned a prestigious residency at the
Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), one of America's foremost sculptors. This was his summer residence from 1885 to 1897, his perma ...
in
Cornish, New Hampshire
Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,616 at the 2020 census. Cornish has four covered bridges. Each August, it is home to the Cornish Fair.
History
The town was granted in 1763 and contained a ...
, during his first year in graduate school. The Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site was the home and studio of the late Irish-born American sculptor,
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...
, one of Nowlan's greatest influences.
Lawrence Nowlan was an
artist-in-residence
Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...
at the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site for five summers, from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2001 to 2002. He studied both
portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, 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 type ...
sculpture and
bas-relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
while at Saint-Gaudens. He also met his future wife while working at Saint-Gaudens, an intern with the
Student Conservation Association
The Student Conservation Association (SCA) is a non-profit group in the United States whose mission is to build the next generation of conservation leaders and inspire lifelong stewardship of the environment and communities by engaging young peo ...
named Heather Wiley, whom he married in 2003.
Sculptures
Nowlan founded his own art studio on the second floor of a former Unitarian Church on Main Street in
Windsor, Vermont
Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As the "Birthplace of Vermont", the town is where the Constitution of Vermont was adopted in 1777, thus marking the founding of the Vermont Republic, a sovereign state until 1791, when ...
, shortly after leaving his position at Saint-Gaudens for the first time in 1997. He created most of his best known works at his Windsor studio.
Nowlan was commissioned for his first major, public work, the
Wildland Firefighters National Monument
The Wildland Firefighters National Monument is an American monument and memorial dedicated to wildland and wildfire firefighters. The monument, which is located on one acre of land, stands on the grounds of the National Interagency Fire Center's ( ...
, while still working as an artist-in-residence at Saint-Gaudens. Rick Kendall, the
superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, has noted that the selection of Nowlan is one of only a few occasions when an employee of the National Park Service has been selected to create a national memorial. The monument commemorates firefighters who have been killed battling wildfires. Nowlan created three eight-foot tall,
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 ...
statues of firefighters as the centerpiece of the Wildland Firefighters National Monument, which was dedicated on May 25, 2000, in
Boise
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...
,
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
. A replica of one of Lawrence Nowlan's original firefighter sculptures was installed in
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County.
In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona T ...
, in August 2013, to commemorate the lives of nineteen firefighters killed in the
Yarnell Hill Fire
The Yarnell Hill Fire was a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, ignited by dry lightning on June 28, 2013. On June 30, it overran and killed 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. Just one of the hotshots on the crew survived—he was pos ...
of June 2013.
He created two works depicting the late
Nile Kinnick
Nile Clarke Kinnick Jr. (July 9, 1918 – June 2, 1943) was an American naval aviator, law student, and college football player at the University of Iowa. He won the 1939 Heisman Trophy and was a consensus All-American. He died during a trainin ...
, a 1939
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...
winner from the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
, who was killed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. One piece is an 18-foot bas relief of Kinnick scoring a touchdown during a college football game against the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
. Nowlan's second piece is a statue of Kinnick standing 16-feet high, dedicated on September 1, 2006. Both works stand at the University of Iowa's
Kinnick Stadium
Nile Kinnick Stadium is a stadium located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the home stadium of the University of Iowa Hawkeyes football team. First opened in 1929 as Iowa Stadium to replace Iowa Field, it currently holds up to 69,250 peo ...
in
Iowa City, Iowa
Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...
.
Nowlan's other public works include a statue of
Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
's character from ''
The Honeymooners
''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fol ...
'' television show,
Ralph Kramden
''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...
, which stands inside the
Port Authority Bus Terminal
The Port Authority Bus Terminal (colloquially known as the Port Authority and by its acronym PABT) is a bus station, bus terminal located in Manhattan in New York City. It is the busiest bus terminal in the world by volume of traffic, serving abo ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City. Nowlan's bronze statue of sports broadcaster
Harry Kalas
Harold Norbert Kalas (March 26, 1936 – April 13, 2009) was an American sportscaster, best known for his Ford C. Frick Award-winning role as lead play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies, a position he held fr ...
was unveiled in
Citizens Bank Park
Citizens Bank Park is a baseball stadium located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the city's South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It is the home playing field of the Philadelphia Phillies, the city's Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise. The stad ...
in his native city of Philadelphia in 2011.
Nationally, other major projects by Nowlan include a series of bass-reliefs installed at the
Culinary Institute of America
Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...
Marine Biological Laboratory
The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...
in
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...
; and a 2012 monument to Bill Bergan, a track and field coach, which stands on the campus of
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...
. Nowlan was also commissioned for works within New Hampshire and
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, including a bronze
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
; the Windsor War Memorial in Windsor, Vermont (the location of his studio); a bronze statue of a girl reading a book, which was dedicated at Ray Elementary School in honor of a former teacher, Louise Derrick; and a bronze figure of a
wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...
, which was installed at the
Kimball Union Academy
Kimball Union Academy is a private boarding school located in New Hampshire. Founded in 1813, it is the 22nd oldest boarding school in the United States. The academy's mission is to "create a deep sense of belonging for every member of our commu ...
, a private boarding school in
Meriden, New Hampshire
Meriden is an unincorporated community in the eastern part of the town of Plainfield in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. Meriden is home to Kimball Union Academy, a private boarding school. New Hampshire Route 120 passes through t ...
, in June 2013.
In addition to his work in the United States, Nowlan was also commissioned for several works in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
. He created a
commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, which was placed in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. He also crafted two relief portraits commissioned by the town of Carrick, County Donegal.
Nowlan also created the award statuettes for the
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
ESPY Award
An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
s and the now defunct
My VH1 Music Awards The My VH1 Music Awards is an annual music award ceremony held by American television network VH1 held in both 2000 and 2001. Categories, nominees, and winners were selected entirely by public voting at VH1.com. The ceremonies were held at the Shri ...
.
In April 2013, Nowlan, a native Philadelphian, was selected by the city of Philadelphia to create a statue of one of the city's best known sports figures, the late
professional boxer
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
and world heavyweight champion
Joe Frazier
Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011), nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. He was known for his strength, durability, formidable left hand, and relentless pressure fi ...
. Nowlan had previously designed a well-known bronze statue of Harry Kalas, which was installed in the Citizen Bank Park in 2011. In a May 2013 with the ''
Rutland Herald
The ''Rutland Herald'' is the second largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Vermont (after ''The Burlington Free Press''). It is published in Rutland. With a daily circulation of about 12,000, it is the main source of news geared towards ...
'', unveiled his planned designed for the Frazier statue, which was intended to stand at 8-feet tall, weighing in at 800 pounds. Nowlan's designed to statue to depict Frazier with the left hook he used to knock out his opponent,
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, a ...
, and win the 1971
Fight of the Century
Joe Frazier vs. Muhammad Ali, billed as ''The Fight Of The Century'' or simply ''The Fight'', was a heavyweight championship boxing match between WBA, WBC, and ''The Ring'' heavyweight champion Joe Frazier and former undisputed heavyweight champ ...
at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
Michael Nutter
Michael Anthony Nutter (born June 29, 1957) is an American politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia. Elected on November 6, 2007, he was reelected to a second term on November 8, 2011. He is a previous member of the Philadelphia ...
stated that the city will still build the statue saying, "We as a city are committed to the creation of a statue to honor Joe Frazier." Richard Hayden, the project manager for the Joe Frazier statue, called Nowlan's death a major blow, "We're just stunned by it...(Nowlan) was very excited about the project and so was the city and the Frazier family. We were finally at the point where we were going to commemorate the life of a boxing legend as opposed to (
Rocky Balboa
Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...
), a fake character from a movie. It's just stunning. It's very tragic."
Death
Nowlan died unexpectedly of natural causes at his home in
Cornish, New Hampshire
Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,616 at the 2020 census. Cornish has four covered bridges. Each August, it is home to the Cornish Fair.
History
The town was granted in 1763 and contained a ...
, on July 30, 2013 at the age of 48. He was survived by his wife, Heather; their two children, daughter, Monet, and son, Teelin; and his six siblings, Peter, Joseph, Jeanne, Susan, Nancy and Danielle.