Robert Russin
(1914-2007)
Robert Russin, University of Wyoming Distinguished Professor of Art and University Artist in Residence was born in New Yor City. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree and the Master of Arts degree from the College of the City of New York and also did graduate study under a Fellowship at the Beaux Arts Institute of Design.
Prior to becoming a member of the University of Wyoming faculty in 1947, Russin taught at the cooper Union Art Institute in New York. He was also teaching Fellow at the College of the City of New York.
In 1953-54 he was granted a Ford Foundation Fellowship which enabled him to work for a year in Italy on creative projects. He has returned to Italy
continuously since then, working extensively on creative projects and comissions.
Before he was 25, Russin won two national sculpture competitions conducted by the Fine Arts Section of the U.S. Treasury Department and was commissioned to decorate two Post Office buildings, one in Evanston Illinois; the other in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Since then he has completed architectural sculpture commissions for both government and private projects. He has also completed numerous private commissions and portraits and has taken several firsts in national and regional art shows. He has exhibited widely in museums and galleries throughout the United States and Europe and he has had one-man exhibits at the Tuscon Art Center; the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center; the Edward-Dean Museum in Riverside County, California; the Judah L. Magnus Museum, Berkeley, California; the Museum of Modern Art, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Tubac Art Center, Tubac Arizona; and at many University art galleries. He exhibits regularly in galleries in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco and Denver. Currently he is represented by Maxwell Galleries LTD., San Francisco; Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles; Adelle M. Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas and Tubac, Arizona.
Several articles on his work and articles authored by Russin have appeared in major art periodicals. He is listed in "Who's Who in the World", "Who's Who in America", "Who's Who in Art", "Who's Who in the West" and other publications. Russin is a member of the Sulptors' Guild (Former Executive Secretary), the National Sculpture Society, and is advisor to the International Sculpture Conferences.
For a closer look, please click on a sculpture below.
Awards & Shows
Commemorative Medals:
George D. Humphrey Medal, University of Wyoming
Albert Einstein Medal, Judah Magnus Memorial Museum, Berkeley, California
George Gershwin Medal, Judah Magnus Memorial Museum, Berkeley, California
Isaac Bashevis Singer Medal, Judah Magnus Memorial Museum, Berkeley, California
Grover Cobb Memorial Medal, National Association of Broadcasters
Major Public Sculptural Commissions
Freedom Fighter, 9-1/2' Bronze Monument in the Holocaust Memorial Garden, Tucson Jewish Community Center, Tucson, AZ
Wyoming Crystal 14' Cast Acrylic and Metal Statue, Herschler Building, Cheyenne, WY
University of Wyoming Family, 7' Carved Marble, University of Wyoming Campus
Helio Dallas, 14' Marble and Bronze Entrance Statue, Lincoln Center, Dallas, TX
Fountainhead, 30'x60' Steel Sculpture Fountain for the City of Casper, WY
Pan-American Family, Heroic Size Carving and Fountain, Plaza of the United States, Dominican Republic
The Juan Pablo Duarte Monument, 15-1/2' Marble Carving on 30' Marble Plinth, Dominican Republic
Spirit of Life Fountain, Entrance to Galleria de Arte Moderna, Santo Domingo
Man and Energy, Bronze for the Chamber of Commerce, Casper Wyoming
The Greeting and the Gift, 12' Bronze Figures, Bi-Centennial Statues, Wyoming Travel Commission, Cheyenne, WY
Chthonodynamis, Monumental Granite Carving, Embarcadero Building #3, San Francisco, CA -Soon to be installed at the entrance to the Department of Energy Building, Washington, D.C.
Prometheus 11' bronze figure of the Natrona Country Public Library, Casper Wyoming
Joie de Vie, Bronze fountain for Fine Arts Plaza, Pomona College, CA
Emergence monumental carving in travertine for Menorah Medical Center, Kansas City, MO
Lincoln Monument On the Summit of the Lincolin Highway (Interstate 80), 13 1/2' bronze bust atop a 30' granite base
Lincoln 4' bronze bust in the Lincoln Museum, Gettysburg, PA
Interaction Symbolic Bronze Statue in Lobby of Chemistry Building, Brookhaven National Labratory, New York, NY
Spirit of Life Fountain for the City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 9' Bronze Group on a 11' Sculptured marble base, with a 30' curcular reflecting pool.
Nine carved wood relief panels, Denver Federal Building, Denver, CO
Pioneer Family, Bronze Bas-Relief, 8-1/2' by 11' Cheyenne Federal Building, Cheyenne, WY
Two 9' metal figures for the Evanstan, Illinois Post Office (Competitive Award)
Three life-size carved figures for the Conshochocken, Pennsylvania Post Office (Competitive Award)
Benjamin Franklin, 7-1/2' Bronze Monument on the University of Wyoming Campus
Primivera, Bronze fountain for the Provident Federal Savings Bank, Casper, WY
22' three-dimensional mural and mobile for the Park Hotel, Rock Springs, WY
Four mosaic bas-relief panels (each 12' x 2') for exterior of the Commerce and Industry College
University of Wyoming
23' x 13' bas-relief for the Wyoming State Highway Building, Cheyenne, WY
Three life-size figures in bas-relief for the Northwest Community College, Sheridan, WY
Two Carved Limestone Bas-Reliefs for the College of Agriculture, University of Wyoming
8' x 12' carved limestone relief for exterior of College of Education Building. University of Wyoming.
Two 8' x 4' stoneward reliefs for the College of Law, University of Wyoming.
Bronze figure of the Graff Building, Los Angeles, CA
Feinstein Memorial Fountain, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
One-Man Shows
The Wellons Gallery, New York, NY
The Main Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
Western A.I.A. Convention, Jackson, WY
Denver Art Gallery, Denver, CO
The Heritage Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Tuscon Art Center Museum, Tucson, AZ
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado
Edward-Dean Museum, Riverside County Art Center, California
Two Squares Gallery, Denver, CO
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA
Bowers Memorial Museum, Santa Ana, CA
Tubac Art Center, Tubac, AZ
Riggins Fine Art Gallery, Schottsdale, AZ
The Dubose Gallery, Houston, TX
Courtney Gallery, Houston, TX
Judas L Magnes Memorial Museum, Berkeley, CA
Owen Gallery, Denver, CO
Contemporary Gallery, Kansas City, MO
The Museum of Modern Art, Inaugural Exhibit, Dominican Republic
University of Wyoming Art Museum, Retrospective, Laramie, WY
The Maxwell Galleries Ltd., San Francisco, CA
Tubac Art Center, Tubac, AZ
Major Awards
Alfred G.B. Steel Prize for Sculpture, 111th Annual, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Lincoln Medal, Licoln Sesquicentennial Commitee, U.S. Congress
Ford Foundation Fellowship for Creative Work
Arizona Fine Arts Show 1st Prize in Sculpture
Arizona Fine Arts Show 1st Prize in Painting
Social Security Building Competition Award
Federal Sculpture Award, U.S. Post Office, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania
Federal Sculpture Award, U.S. Post Office, Evanston, IL
Graduate School Council grants for creative and media research, several grants, Graduate School, University of Wyoming
Order of "Duarte, Sanches and Mella", Highest Dominican Republic Cultural Award
Distinguished Professor Award, University of Wyoming
University Artist in Residence, University of Wyoming