Jerry Anderson
Connecting Time, Place and Story in Captivating Bronze Sculptures.
Jerry Anderson was born in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1935. He spent much of his boyhood traveling around the west with his father who was a well-driller. Those experiences opened his eyes to the world around him and sparked his life-long infatuation with the people, the history and the ways of the old west.That interest intensified as he later worked as a miner and then as a ranch-hand on a Utah cattle ranch.
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Since beginning his full-time pursuit of fine art quickly climbed the ladder of success. His works have been featured in many major art publications and he is a multiple award winner at some of the most prestigious Western and other art shows. He has twice won 'Best of Show' in sculpture at the prestigious Western Artists of America Annual Exhibition; 'Best of Show' at the American/Canadian Classic in Billings, Montana; First Place and 'People's Choice' at the Death Valley 49er's Show in California and many more. His work can be found in collections from coast-to-coast, including the prestigious Favell Museum collection in Oregon, where he was given the 'Western Heritage Award' in 1989.
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Jerry Anderson is an Artist in Residence at Southern Utah University where several of his most popular monuments are placed. The classic 'Old Sorrel' is the Founder's monument on campus. The giant, dramatic bronze depicts the legendary horse which helped settlers build Cedar City.
One of the most moving pieces stands at the south edge of the campus at Southern Utah University. As is the case with all of his sculptures, there is a vivid story underpinning the monument. This is a statue f the young and wholesome pioneer girl, Nellie Unthank, who at the age of nine, crossed the plains, witnessed the death of her parents, nearly froze to death herself, and endured the agony of the amputation of her feet without anesthesia. She lived her adult life and raised her children in Cedar City without resorting to dependence. Anderson captured the joy and freedom of youth in the little girl as she skips with her shoes ironically hanging over her shoulder. Another of the dramatic monuments placed in front of the campus at Southern Utah University is 'The Centurion.' This magnificent creation preserves the values of twelve of mankind's men and women who depict great thinkers over the centuries represented; people who forged new and better paths for future generations. 'The Centurion' includes: Aristotle, Plato, Marie Curie, Socrates, John Stuart Mills, William Shakespeare, Thomas Jefferson, Germaine De Stail, Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton and Gallileo Gallei. Anderson was awarded Southern Utah University's 'Medallion of the Southern Utah Honors' in 1989.
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Anderson's work has been exhibited at the MONAC show in Spokane, Washington; the Charles Russell Show in Great Falls, Montana; at the AICA in San Dimas, California; the George Phippen Memorial in Prescott, Arizona; the Death Valley 49er's Show in California; the International Western Wildlife Show in North Dakota and the Art Expo in Dallas, Texas, to name a few.
Every new art piece is an adventure for Anderson to create. No two are remotely alike. He is equally adept at bear and elk as he is at sculpting cute, little girls and cowboys. one of his most popular pieces ever, 'Showdown,' captures a cowboy with rifle in hand, dismounting his horse. Early buyers of the limited edition of 'Showdown,' of thirty pieces, paid $4,500 for the piece. Later in the edition, the price increased to $15,000. Now that it is sold out, one collector was offered $30,000 for the piece. Meanwhile, Anderson works away in his studio. There's always a new piece in progress. Down the street at the Wells Fargo Museum in Silver Reef, Utah, which Anderson helped restore, people file through to admire his works of art.
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Off to the southeast, the walls of Zion Canyon tower on the horizon. On many days, Anderson still sets out for the canyon to unwind. He climbs the reef near his home, where claim jumpers once carried pistols and solved their disputes with fists. Then he returns to go to work again, molding clay into life; turning his ideas into history. Some people ask him, "what keeps you coming back to your studio?" His response, "I still haven't done my best piece."
