John Kearney (August 31, 1924 – August 10, 2014) was an American artist, best known for his sculptures made of car bumpers. During his career, Kearney was based out of Chicago and

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

. Many of his sculptures are displayed outside of public buildings.

Life

Kearney received his artistic education at the

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cra ...

in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and the Universita per Stranieri in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

, Italy. In 1950, he co-founded the Contemporary Art Workshop in Chicago. Subsequently, he lived and worked in Italy numerous times, most notably in Rome in 1963 and 1964 while on a

Fulbright Award The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, and in 1985 and 1992 while serving as a visiting artist at the

American Academy in Rome The American Academy in Rome is a research and arts institution located on the Gianicolo (Janiculum Hill) in Rome. The academy is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History In 1893, a group of American architects ...

. Kearney learned his welding skills as a World War II

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

sailor while performing underwater repair of naval vessels.

Awards

* Fulbright Award to Rome in 1963–64 * Italian Government Grant in 1963–64 * Visiting Artists at America Academy in Rome, 1985 and 1992

Collections that own Kearney's work

* Aon (Standard Oil Building) in Chicago * Detroit Children's Museum * Illinois State Capitol Visitors Center, Springfield, Illinois
Springfield Art Association
Springfield, Illinois * Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois * Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago * Ulrich Museum, Wichita, Kansas * Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, Illinois
Canton Museum of Art
Canton, Ohio

Solo exhibitions

* New York City at A.C.A. Gallery, 1964 to 1979 * Berta Walker Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts, 1992 to 1997

Outdoor sculpture

In Chicago area * Academy of Science (T. rex) * Aon (formerly the Amoco Building and the Standard Oil Building) (three deer) * Chicago Park District (two life size Horses) * Clark and Deming intersection (two goats) * Roscoe and Elaine Place intersection (two giraffes)(removed) * Cornelia and Elaine Place intersection ("Nanny Goat") (removed) *

Field Museum The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educational ...

, South Entrance (two bronzes) *

, penguin and deer inside an exhibit. * Francis Parker School * Goudy School (double life-size cougar – the School Mascot) *

Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868, making it the fourth oldest zoo in North America. It is also one of a few free admission zoos in the Uni ...

(chromium-plated bull elephant) – the zoo did not take proper care of these sculptures, and they were removed due to damage. *

McCormick Seminary McCormick Theological Seminary is a private Presbyterian seminary in Chicago, Illinois. It shares a campus with the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, bordering the campus of the University of Chicago. A letter of intent was signed on May ...

, Hyde Park, on University Avenue north of 55th Street (a large ram, named "Herald", pun referring to the ''Hyde Park Herald'' newspaper) * Michigan Avenue

Magnificent Mile The Magnificent Mile, sometimes referred to as The Mag Mile, is an upscale section of Chicago's Michigan Avenue, running from the Chicago River to Oak Street in the Near North Side. The district is located within downtown, and one block ...

(

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

) * Museum of Science and Industry (life-size gorilla) *

Oakton Community College Oakton College is a public community college with campuses in Des Plaines, Illinois and Skokie, Illinois. It was established in 1969 in Morton Grove, Illinois and moved to its current locations in 1980. History Oakton College opened in 1969 in f ...

Oz Park Oz Park is a public park in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of North Side, Chicago. It is located at 2021 North Burling Street, at the corner of Lincoln and Webster, just south of the Lincoln, Halsted, and Fullerton intersection. The park borders L ...

(the Tin Man (1995),

Cowardly Lion The Cowardly Lion is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He is depicted as an African lion, but like all animals in Oz, he can speak. Since lions are supposed to be "The Kings of Beasts," the Cowardly ...

(2001),

Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...

(2005), and Dorothy and Toto (2007) from '' The Wizard of Oz'') * Sedgwick, 1800 block (two horses) * Uptown Hull House (gorilla) * Andersonville Residence (life-size Kodiak bear) Elsewhere * Dallas Museum of Natural History, Dallas, Texas, and

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' feat ...

Museum, Grand Prairie, Texas (''Chromosaurs'': Tyrannosaurus rex, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops)
Boys and Girls Club of Fayetteville, Arkansas
(life-size giraffe and gorilla) * Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois (one horse) * Ulrich Museum,

Wichita State University Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of study in ...

, Kansas (''Grandfather's Horse'') * Delano Park, Delano, Wichita, Kansas on the

Chisholm Trail The Chisholm Trail was a trail used in the post-Civil War era to drive cattle overland from ranches in Texas to Kansas railheads. The trail was established by Black Beaver, a Lenape guide and rancher, and his friend Jesse Chisholm, a Cheroke ...

(one of ''Two Steers'') * Maize South High School, Maize Kansas (one of ''Two Steers'')
Hudson Welding and Fabricating
326 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
life sized giraffe known locally as G''erry''

RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, 2519 Northwestern Ave, Racine, Wi, 53403 two giraffes, a pelican (1960), two goats (Goat 1978 and Nanny Goat 1999), and a standing female nude (Venus of Detroit 1975), are installed outdoors on the grounds at Wustum through August 12, 2021. * Signal Centers (Chattanooga TN) Front of Facility (Horse) - www.signalcenters.org

References

External links

Contemporary Arts Workshop

Location of Outdoor Sculpture in Chicago

Chicago Tribune article on the Goudy School sculpture

Kimball the Horse, located at the Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Illinois

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/nowiki>_the_Ram"_at_McCormick_seminary.html" ;"title="ic">History of "Herald [sic
/nowiki> the Ram" at McCormick seminary">ic">History of "Herald [sic
/nowiki> the Ram" at McCormick seminary
[sic">Another version of "Herald [sic
/nowiki> the Ram"] *
Herod, Doug. 2013. The long journey from eyesore to St. Catharines Landmark. St. Catharines Standard, October 4th. 2013.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearney, John 1924 births 2014 deaths Cranbrook Academy of Art alumni Artists from Chicago Sculptors from Illinois