John Sherrill Houser
Encyclopedia
John Sherrill Houser is an American painter and sculptor. He was born in Rapid City, South Dakota
where his father, Ivan Houser, was assistant sculptor to Gutzon Borglum
in the early years of carving Mount Rushmore
. Encouraged in art from childhood, young Houser studied art at Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon), the University of California
and Art Center College of Design
(Los Angeles, now Pasadena, California).
He pursued two years of independent study in Europe as a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award during which time he also assisted the American sculptor, Avard Fairbanks
, on an equestrian monument to the Pony Express and worked with classicist painter, R. H. Ives Gammell
in Boston, Massachusetts.
In his career Houser has traveled extensively through Europe, Morocco, Mexico, Ecuador and the United States. Dedicating most of his adult life to interpreting the human condition through direct experience, he has lived and worked for extended periods among such diverse groups as the mountain people of Appalachia
, the Gullah Blacks of South Carolina, The street fakirs (faquiri) of Rome, Italy, hippies of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury (1960's), Mexican and Black migrant laborers, American gypsies and Native Americans including Taos Pueblo
, the Tonto Apache
, the Eastern Band of Cherokee
, and the Yaqui and Tohono O'odham
(Papago) tribes of Arizona.
In Mexico the artist lived and worked among the Seri Indians on the coast of Sonora, Mexico, the Tarahumara
Indians of the Copper Canyon, Chihuahua, Mexico, the Lacandón
Indians (Chiapas, Mexico), and the Aschuar Indians (Jívaro) of the Upper Amazon in Ecuador.
In 1988, he conceived and proposed the XII Travelers Memorial of the Southwest (a sculpture walk through history) for the city of El Paso. This unfinished project commemorates the history of the Southwest in twelve monuments representing twelve different historical periods. The first monument, The Building of the Missions (Fray García) was completed in 1977, followed by The Spanish Settlement of the Southwest (Don Juan de Oñate, AKA The Equestrian) in 2007. Two other monuments in the series are now in progress, Benito Juárez
, Zapotec Indian president of Mexico and Susan Shelby Magoffin, diarist of the Santa Fe Trail
.
The artist's son, Ethan Taliesin Houser assisted his father on The Equestrian (AKA Don Juan de Oñate). This monument, 36-feet high, is purported to be the world's largest equestrian bronze. It was cast in Mexico City and installed in front of the El Paso International Airport on April 27, 2007.
The Last Conquistador, an hour-long PBS documentary produced by John Valadez and Cristina Ibarra, featuring the artist and the controversy surrounding Don Juan de Oñate was shown nationally on POVTV, July 15, 2008.
Houser's newest project is The Puchteca, (pre-Columbian trader), a 250-foot colossus designed to straddle the US/Mexico border.
John's work is found in the U.S. Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, California), the Greenshields Museum (Montreal, Canada) and the Forest Hills
sculpture garden (Boston, Massachusetts), among others.
Houser modeled a clay study of 1962 Nobel Prize-winning scientist Francis Crick
a few years before his death, and his son is currently casting it in bronze; the bust is intended for the University of Cambridge
and other American or British institutions associated with Crick.
and the American National Portrait Society.
Rapid City, South Dakota
Rapid City is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota, and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek on which the city is established, it is set against the eastern slope of the Black Hills mountain range. The population was 67,956 as of the 2010 Census. Rapid...
where his father, Ivan Houser, was assistant sculptor to Gutzon Borglum
Gutzon Borglum
Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum was an American artist and sculptor famous for creating the monumental presidents' heads at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, the famous carving on Stone Mountain near Atlanta, as well as other public works of art.- Background :The son of Mormon Danish immigrants, Gutzon...
in the early years of carving Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States...
. Encouraged in art from childhood, young Houser studied art at Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon), the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
and Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design
Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...
(Los Angeles, now Pasadena, California).
He pursued two years of independent study in Europe as a recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award during which time he also assisted the American sculptor, Avard Fairbanks
Avard Fairbanks
Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was a prolific 20th century American sculptor. Three of his sculptures are in the United States Capitol, and the state capitols in both Utah and Wyoming, as well as numerous other locations, also have his works...
, on an equestrian monument to the Pony Express and worked with classicist painter, R. H. Ives Gammell
R. H. Ives Gammell
Robert Hale Ives Gammell , American muralist, portrait painter, art teacher, and writer on art, was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1893. In 1911, he enrolled in the School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts...
in Boston, Massachusetts.
In his career Houser has traveled extensively through Europe, Morocco, Mexico, Ecuador and the United States. Dedicating most of his adult life to interpreting the human condition through direct experience, he has lived and worked for extended periods among such diverse groups as the mountain people of Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
, the Gullah Blacks of South Carolina, The street fakirs (faquiri) of Rome, Italy, hippies of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury (1960's), Mexican and Black migrant laborers, American gypsies and Native Americans including Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo
Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos speaking Native American tribe of Pueblo people. It is approximately 1000 years old and lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico, USA...
, the Tonto Apache
Tonto Apache
The Tonto Apache is one of the groups of Western Apache people. The term is also used for their dialect, one of the three dialects of the Western Apache language...
, the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
, and the Yaqui and Tohono O'odham
Tohono O'odham
The Tohono O'odham are a group of Native American people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona and northwest Mexico...
(Papago) tribes of Arizona.
In Mexico the artist lived and worked among the Seri Indians on the coast of Sonora, Mexico, the Tarahumara
Tarahumara
The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are a Native American people of northwestern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability...
Indians of the Copper Canyon, Chihuahua, Mexico, the Lacandón
Lacandon
The Lacandon are one of the Maya peoples who live in the jungles of the Mexican state of Chiapas, near the southern border with Guatemala. Their homeland, the Lacandon Jungle, lies along the Mexican side of the Usumacinta River and its tributaries. The Lacandon are one of the most isolated and...
Indians (Chiapas, Mexico), and the Aschuar Indians (Jívaro) of the Upper Amazon in Ecuador.
In 1988, he conceived and proposed the XII Travelers Memorial of the Southwest (a sculpture walk through history) for the city of El Paso. This unfinished project commemorates the history of the Southwest in twelve monuments representing twelve different historical periods. The first monument, The Building of the Missions (Fray García) was completed in 1977, followed by The Spanish Settlement of the Southwest (Don Juan de Oñate, AKA The Equestrian) in 2007. Two other monuments in the series are now in progress, Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
, Zapotec Indian president of Mexico and Susan Shelby Magoffin, diarist of the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
.
The artist's son, Ethan Taliesin Houser assisted his father on The Equestrian (AKA Don Juan de Oñate). This monument, 36-feet high, is purported to be the world's largest equestrian bronze. It was cast in Mexico City and installed in front of the El Paso International Airport on April 27, 2007.
The Last Conquistador, an hour-long PBS documentary produced by John Valadez and Cristina Ibarra, featuring the artist and the controversy surrounding Don Juan de Oñate was shown nationally on POVTV, July 15, 2008.
Houser's newest project is The Puchteca, (pre-Columbian trader), a 250-foot colossus designed to straddle the US/Mexico border.
John's work is found in the U.S. Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, California), the Greenshields Museum (Montreal, Canada) and the Forest Hills
Forest Hills
- Cities or census-designated places :United States* Forest Hills, Kentucky* Forest Hills, Michigan* Forest Hills, North Carolina* Forest Hills, Pennsylvania* Forest Hills, TennesseeSouth Africa* Forest Hills, Kloof, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal...
sculpture garden (Boston, Massachusetts), among others.
Houser modeled a clay study of 1962 Nobel Prize-winning scientist Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
a few years before his death, and his son is currently casting it in bronze; the bust is intended for the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and other American or British institutions associated with Crick.
Professional affiliations
Mr. Houser maintains his studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a Professional member of the National Sculpture SocietyNational Sculpture Society
Founded in 1893, the National Sculpture Society was the first organization of professional sculptors formed in the United States. The purpose of the organization was to promote the welfare of American sculptors, although its founding members included several renowned architects. The founding...
and the American National Portrait Society.