Sidney Edward Boyum (1914 – February 22, 1991) was an industrial photographer, sculptor and graphic artist in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, United States. Much of his work falls into the category of

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrate ...

. Boyum is best known for his public sculptures scattered throughout the Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahara Neighborhood on Madison's east side.

Background and history

Sid Boyum was born in Duluth in 1914, and lived most of his life in Madison. After graduation from high school in the early 1930s, Boyum worked in the art department of the Brock Engraving Company in Madison for 11 years. He then worked as an industrial photographer for the Gisholt Machinery Company in Madison for 31 years, and also periodically worked on Air Force command manuals for the government. In 1973, he retired so he could work on his many art projects. Each year from 1963 to 1989, The ''

Wisconsin State Journal The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of September ...

'' commissioned Boyum to draw a different full-page, poster commemorating the opening of the Wisconsin fishing season. After his father's death, his son Steve Boyum donated 60 of his father's sculptures to the City of Madison, reportedly the largest single art gift the city had ever received. In 2017, a group of neighbors of Boyum, purchased his house and property, which had been abandoned, for back taxes owed in the amount of $28,000. The Friends of Sid Boyum organization performed some minor repairs on the house, and then it was put on the market. As of 2019, his house had been sold, with 29 sculptures remaining in the backyard. The Friends of Sid Boyum has found locations for approximately half of the sculptures to be displayed, and "a few will remain at the house". Karin Wolf, Madison Arts Program administrator, opined that Boyum's offbeat works were "comic, little middle fingers to the status quo", and his works "offer us a relief from the tedium of the absurd times we live in". Boyum was a close friend, collaborator and influence on other Wisconsin artists and collectors, including Baraboo's Tom Every (A.K.A. "Doctor Evermor"), creator of the '' Forevertron'' and Alex Jordan, Jr creator of the House on the Rock. During his lifetime, Boyum also produced thousands of photographs (including a number of whimsical self-portraits), 16-millimeter films, drawings, paintings and bas-relief works.

Gallery

Sid Boyum Man-Eating Mushroom and Blue Urn with Dragon in Jackson Square in Madison, Wisconsin.jpg, Two of Boyum's sculptures, ''Man-Eating Mushroom'' and ''Blue Urn with Dragon'' in Jackson Square in Madison, Wisconsin Sid Boyum's concrete sculpture "Easter Island Head" at Lowell Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin.jpg, Boyum's concrete sculpture ''Easter Island Head'' at Lowell Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin Sid Boyum Blue Tripod Lantern in Madison, Wisconsin.jpg, Boyum's ''Blue Tripod Lantern'' in Madison, Wisconsin

References

External links

Friends of Sid Boyum (nonprofit organization)

* ttps://vimeo.com/search?q=Sid+Boyum Downtown Dailies documentary videos on Sid Boyum (Vimeo)br>Images of Sid Boyum sculptures and conditions
at The City of Madison {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyum, Sid Industrial photographers American graphic designers Artists from Madison, Wisconsin Outsider artists 1914 births 1991 deaths Sculptors from Wisconsin