Ortho R. Fairbanks (April 25, 1925 – June 2, 2015) was one of the many members of the Fairbanks family who have been prominent artists. Fairbanks was the grandson of painter

John B. Fairbanks John B. Fairbanks (December 27, 1855, in Payson, Utah – June 15, 1940, in Salt Lake City) was an American landscape painter. In 1890, he was one of a group of artists who studied in Paris under the sponsorship of the Church of Jesus Christ of ...

and the grand-nephew of

Avard Fairbanks Avard Tennyson Fairbanks (March 2, 1897 – January 1, 1987) was a 20th-century American sculptor. Over his eighty-year career, he sculpted over 100 public monuments and hundreds of artworks. Fairbanks is known for his religious-themed commis ...

. He was born in Salt Lake City and received a BFA from the University of Utah in 1952 taking classes from his Uncle Avard. He received his MFA in 1953 also from the University of Utah. He married Myrna on February 18, 1949, right before he left on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to New Zealand. From 1960 to 1968 Fairbanks was a professor at the Church College of Hawaii. He contributed carvings to some of Avard Fairbanks's works. He also taught at the Northland Pioneer College. In 1965, Fairbanks was in Italy doing a study of sculpture in Italy and was able to obtain a copy of

Vincenzo Di Francesca Vincenzo Di Francesca (23 September 1888 – 18 November 1966) was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death. However, he is most known for his long struggle to become a member of the LDS Chur ...

's unique conversion story to the LDS Church, which he then gave to the '' Improvement Era'', which was the first to print it. It was later adapted into the film ''How Rare a Possession'' by the LDS Church. Fairbanks sculpted a monument to John Morgan and his commercial college, one of the first business schools in Utah. He has also made a sculpture to remember young children who die. The statue of

Karl G. Maeser Karl Gottfried Maeser (January 16, 1828 – February 15, 1901) was a prominent Utah educator and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He served 16 years as principal of Brigham Young Academy. Although h ...

on Brigham Young University campus is by Fairbanks. Fairbanks's busts of Brigham Young,

David O. McKay David Oman McKay (September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970) was an American religious leader and educator who served as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordain ...

and Ezra Taft Benson are on display at the LDS Conference Center. He has also made sculptures of Hyrum Smith,

Orson Pratt Orson Pratt Sr. (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was an American mathematician and religious leader who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). He became a member of the ...

, and Philo T. Farnsworth. Ortho Fairbanks sculpted a bust of the prophet Joseph Smith when he was studying in Italy. He had access to the death mask of Joseph for facial details. A copy is owned by the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. A copy is also on display in the

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

References

External links

Faculty files—Fairbanks, Ortho R., 1960–1969

L. Tom Perry Special Collections The L. Tom Perry Special Collections is the special collections department of Brigham Young University (BYU)'s Harold B. Lee Library in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1957 with 1,000 books and 50 manuscript collections, as of 2016 the Library's special ...

, Brigham Young University {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbanks, Ortho R. American Latter Day Saint artists 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century male artists Brigham Young University–Hawaii faculty University of Utah alumni 1925 births 2015 deaths Artists from Salt Lake City 21st-century American sculptors 21st-century male artists American male sculptors Latter Day Saints from Hawaii American expatriates in Italy Sculptors from Utah Harold B. Lee Library-related film articles