John Sherrill Houser

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 Mt. Rushmore. Encouraged in art from childhood, young Houser studied art at Lewis and Clark College (Portland, Oregon), the Universuty of California and Art Center College of Design (Los Angeles, 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, MA.

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 addition to receiving numerous prestigious awards his work is in many public and private collections.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, which is the first regional memorial in the United States, 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. Including Benito Juarez, 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 took seven years to enlarge in Mexico City and was installed three years later in front of the El Paso International Airport on April 27, 2007."The Last Conquistador", an hour-long PBS documentary produced by acclaimed filmmakers, John Valadez and Cristina Ibarra, featuring the artist and the controversy surrounding Don Juan de Oñate and the world’s largest equestrian bronze will be 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 numerous public collections including the U.S. Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), the Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, CA), the Greenshields Museum (Montreal, Canada) and the Forest Hills sculpture garden (Boston, MA) among others.In addition to paintings and monuments Houser has done many smaller sculptures. He is also known for his commissioned portrait busts. He is currently writing a book of his adventures in creating "The World's Largest Equestrian Bronze".Professional affiliationsMr. Houser maintains his studio in Santa Fe, NM. He is a Professional member” of the National Sculpture Society and the American National Portrait Society.

References

* Houser, Nicholas, "The Conquistador, The world of Spanish Horses", Vol. 9, Number 5, Creating the World’s Largest Horse.

* Tucson Art Center, "The West, Artists and Illustrators", Tucson, AZ, Tucson Art Center, 1972.

External links

* [http://www.johnsherrillhouser.com/ John Sherrill Houser website]
* [http://www.12travelers.org/ The XII Travelers Memorial]
* [http://www.thelastconquistador.com/ The Last Conquistador PBS documentary]