John Henry Waddell (February 14, 1921 – November 27, 2019) was an American sculptor, painter and educator. He had a long career in art education and has many sculptures on public display, but he may be best known for That Which Might Have Been—his memorial to the four girls killed in the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Early life

Waddell was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1921 and moved to Evanston, Illinois, at the age of ten. There he began to study art at the Katherine Lord Studio, and by the age of 16 was teaching classes there. In 1939, he graduated from Evanston Township High School and moved to Chicago where he attended the School of the Art Institute.

In 1942, Waddell married his first wife, Elizabeth Owen, and they had three children: Sean Owen, Seamus, and Seanchan Waddell. Elizabeth and John divorced in 1948. In 1949, they were married in a small ceremony with friends and fellow students, Leon Golub and Nancy Spero, as witnesses. Through the decades Ruth appeared in many of his paintings and sculptures. Waddell also became a primary muse in Ruth's work.

Career

Waddell began having one-man shows of his artwork as early as 1942. He had dozens of such shows over the course of six decades as a professional artist.

Death

Waddell died November 27, 2019, at the age of 98.

Selected public works

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File:Dance 1.jpg|alt=Sculpture outside the Herberger Theater, Phoenix.|Sculpture outside the Herberger Theater, Phoenix. Photographed in 2009.

File:1988 Dancer in motion.jpg|alt=Dancer in Motion|Dancer in Motion (1988). Photographed in 2006.

File:That Which Might Have Been, Birmingham 1963.jpg|alt=That Which Might Have Been|Waddell with his work, That Which Might Have Been, Birmingham 1963, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix, cast in 1964. Photographed in 2013.

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  • Dance Mother (Ruth), - Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix Arizona 1962
  • Dance Daughters, - Yuma Art Center, Yuma, Arizona, 1963
  • That Which Might Have Been: Birmingham 1963, - Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix 1964; George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, Phoenix
  • Family, - Maricopa County Building, Phoenix, AZ 1967
  • Past and Present. – Glendale Community College, Glendale, Arizona 1968
  • Dance, Downtown Phoenix, AZ, 1968 to 1974
  • Marlo Seated, Phoenix Public Library, Phoenix AZ, 1977
  • Seated Flute Player, Weinstein Center for the Performing Arts, Evanston, Illinois, and University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 1979
  • Apogee & Momentum, U.S. Tennis Association, Flushing Meadows, New York 1980 - 1988
  • Welcoming Muse, Robert Mondavi Winery, Oakville, California
  • I Am That I Am, Congregation Beth Israel (Scottsdale, Arizona), 1982
  • Seated Flute Player & Harpist, Ravinia Park, Chicago

Awards

  • Performing and Broadcast Arts Hall of Fame, The Herberger Theater (Phoenix), inducted in 2001.

References

Further reading

  • Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Tracking the Nudes of Phoenix, unpublished manuscript
  • Sarda, Michel F., John Henry Waddell: the Art and the Artist, Bridgewood Press, Phoenix, Arizona 1996
  • Waddell, John Henry and Ann R. Mealy, The Beauty of Individual Differences: A Study of the Waddell Sculpture Fellowship and the Master-Apprentice Relationship, John Henry Waddell and Ann R Mealy, Flagstaff, Arizona 1985
  • Official Website
  • Rising by Waddell - Relief