Starr Gideon Kempf (August 13, 1917 in

Bluffton, Ohio Bluffton, originally known as Shannon, is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Allen County, Ohio, Allen and Hancock County, Ohio, Hancock counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 4,125 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ce ...

– April 7, 1995 in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

) was an American

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

, and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

best known for his graceful steel wind kinetic sculptures.

Life

Starr Kempf was raised on a small farm in Ohio, near the Swiss

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

community of Bluffton. His family, including his father and seven uncles, were

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s and

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...

s, from whom he learned craftsmanship and engineering at an early age. He attended the

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at firs ...

on a scholarship, where he received high marks for his paintings and drawings. After graduating, he served in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

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 ...

. He married recent

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

immigrant Hedwig Roelen in 1942, who was a nurse at Glockner Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs. In 1948, they purchased the property of their future home in Cheyenne Canyon, where Starr designed and built a house and art studio. They had three children: Madelin, Michael, and Charlotte. Starr began to work in

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 ...

sculpture in 1955, which he sold to collectors around the United States. As of 1977, his vision had blossomed into the creation of elaborate steel wind sculptures, each of which took him up to three years to construct. His kinetic wind sculptures were designed to exhibit graceful movement and interaction with the wind; with a few powering spotlights to showcase his pieces and one that triggered music as it rotated. His work often took the form of birds or weather vanes, and typically stood more than fifty feet in height. Starr Kempf committed suicide by gunshot on April 7, 1995. Kempf Legacy
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References

External links

Colorado Springs Independent article on Kempf zoning controversy, sculpture removal

Wixx, David, Photographs of the collection of Starr Kempf sculptures
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kempf, Starr Architects from Colorado American male sculptors Modern sculptors Sculptors from Colorado Artists who died by suicide Suicides by firearm in Colorado 1917 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American architects 20th-century American sculptors Sculptors from Ohio Architects from Ohio 1995 suicides 20th-century American male artists People from Colorado Springs, Colorado