Thaddeus G. Mosley (born 1926) is a

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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 ...

who works mostly in wood and is based in

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Biography

A native of

New Castle, Pennsylvania New Castle is a city in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is northwest of Pittsburgh, and near the Pennsylvania–Ohio border, just southeast of Youngstown, Ohio. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, ...

, Mosley enlisted in the

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, then graduated in 1950 from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, where he majored in English and journalism, then settled in Pittsburgh and took a job with the

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. Some freelance journalism in the 1950s for the

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...

and various national magazines sparked his interest in carving and sculpture. His solo and two-person exhibits include events at the

Carnegie Museum of Art The Carnegie Museum of Art, is an art museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally known as the Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute and was at what is now the Main Branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsbur ...

in 1968 and 1997; the

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA) is a non-profit community arts campus that offers arts education programs and contemporary art exhibitions in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It also provides services and resources for artists th ...

(PCA)'s Artist of the Year show in 1979; the

Three Rivers Arts Festival Three Rivers Arts Festival is an outdoor music and arts festival held each June in the Downtown district of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The festival features live music and performance art, as well as visual art and vendors who sell their wares. The ...

with

Selma Burke Selma Hortense Burke (December 31, 1900 – August 29, 1995) was an American sculptor and a member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Burke is best known for a bas relief portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt which may have been the model ...

in 1990; and the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in 1995. His best-known sculptures in Pittsburgh are the 14-foot cedar ''Phoenix'' at the corner of Centre Avenue and Dinwiddie in the

Hill District The Hill District is a grouping of historically African American neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, "the Hill" was the cultural center of black life in the city and a major cent ...

and the ''Mountaintop'' limestone at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in the Hill District at Herron and Milwaukee Streets. He also is 1 of 32 artists to be featured in the 2018

Carnegie International The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896 in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established th ...

. Mosley's awards include the 1999 Governor's Award for Artist of the Year in Pennsylvania Visual Arts, the PCA 2000 Cultural Award, and the PCA 2002 Service to the Arts Award and Exhibition. The latter award, first awarded in 1997, is given to a member of the local arts community for demonstrating inspiration, involvement, commitment and passion for the arts. The

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Although it transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, it rem ...

called Mosley "a fixture at local art openings" and said:

A constant contributor to charity auctions (he recently donated two pieces to the Sharry Evrett Scholarship Award auction and created a penguin for Sweetwater Center for the Arts' Penguins on Parade auction), he also is widely respected as an instructor, having given countless workshops on woodcarving at colleges and art centers locally and regionally. Most notable has been the Touchstone Center for Crafts in
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, Fayette County, where he has taught wood sculpture every summer for more than 20 years.

His commissions include ''Three Rivers Bench'' in 2003 for the

David L. Lawrence Convention Center The David L. Lawrence Convention Center (DLLCC) is a convention, conference and exhibition building in downtown Pittsburgh in the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is served by two exits on Interstate 579. The initial David L. Lawrence ...

; ''Legends'' at the Susquehanna Museum in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, from December 2003 to March 2004; and an exhibition at the Cue Art Foundation Gallery in

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in March 2004. In 1997, Pittsburgh author David Lewis published ''Thaddeus Mosley: African-American Sculptor,'' a 97-page book published by the

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

. His affiliations include many years as an officer of the Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors and service as a board member for the

August Wilson Center for African American Culture The August Wilson African American Cultural Center is a U.S. nonprofit arts organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that presents performing and visual arts programs that celebrate the contributions of African Americans not only in Wester ...

. A 45-minute documentary on Mosley's life, ''Thaddeus Mosley: Sculptor'', was completed in 2012. In October 2022, Mosley’s sculptures were part of the inaugural edition of Paris + par Art Basel. Curated by Annabelle Ténèze, Director of Les Abattoirs, Thaddeus Mosley in ''La Suite de l’Histoire'' was exhibited at Musée National Eugène-Delacroix. References

External links

1997 interview with Mosley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosley, Thaddeus African-American sculptors 20th-century American sculptors 20th-century American male artists 21st-century American sculptors 21st-century American male artists American male sculptors Artists from Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh alumni Living people 1926 births People from New Castle, Pennsylvania Sculptors from Pennsylvania 20th-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American artists