Update 9/22/2023: All Summer, into Fall, we've been at work on this multifaceted placement, craning out the bronze sculpture from the NSG Sculpture Garden to the foundry, picking out the stone pavers at Tribble Stone, checking on the basalt columns in Seattle, making templates for the sculpture and the columns, reworking the structural stainless steel undercarriage of the sculpture to fit the new engineering requirements, creating structures for the stone. Strategizing on the logistics of material gathering, packing, loading, shipping and installation timing. It's complex, but we know this plaza will be striking in the end and cannot wait to see the lights that first evening by the river in Little Rock.

6/20/23: The National Sculptors' Guild were contracted by Sculpture at the River Market to create "Inspiration Plaza" designed by John Kinkade for Little Rock, Arkansas.

A 16-foot circle of dark stone pavers, at the center of the plaza will be the bronze sculpture "I Am You", by Denny Haskew. At 14-feet tall, this is the largest self supported cast bronze canopy to date. It is an uplifting piece about human connection. The inside portion of the drapery is covered in 22-kt gold leaf. The sculpture will be based on 3.5-foot basalt columns uplit by embedded light fixtures. 

A buff colored paver pathway will curve away from the center circle. These pavers will match the Dakota sandstone used near the site. On each end of the curved walkway will be four 7-foot tall basalt columns capped with stainless steel light diffusers that are patinaed gold designed and fabricated by Mark Leichliter. The caps will range in height from 24” to 32”. Each cap will be customized to fit the irregular basalt columns. The columns will be natural on all sides except for the side facing the center of the walkway which will be polished. The polished sides will be engraved with inspirational verse. One column will have two polished sides to have the name of the plaza, the date, the donor’s names and the artists/designer’s names engraved on. Each of the polished surfaces will be uplit by a light fixture that is embedded into the stone pavement.

The rest of the plaza will include 24” x 12” pavers that are natural on top and bottom, and sawn sides. Six trees will be planted in the two ellipse landscape areas. Six approx. 2-foot cube donor benches can optionally be added in a semi-circle lining the grass areas of the center plaza to allow a space to sit and contemplate the sculpture.

We believe this placement, central to the River Front Park, will draw and unite the community together and are proud to be part of it.

Update: 9/13/23 
​Jane DeDecker and the National Sculptors' Guild were selected by Hawaii's State Foundation on Culture and Arts for a sculpture placement at their renovated Ho'okipa Cottages, a part of the Women's Correctional Facility. We are really pleased that our concept has been approved by the commissioners and we are into the next phase of realizing this beautiful sculpture as a monumental bronze for the community.

She is a universal figure of compassion and acceptance, representative of a Tutu (grandmother). It is our hope that this figure will provide a positive space for the women, workers and visitors, where one can sit and reflect, seek guidance, see themselves in her, or someone they love. 

The design is of a female figure seated with outstretched arm draped in Hawaiian lei’s that she is offering to her fellow Hawaiians and the island at large; in an expression of aloha; compassion, gratitude and acceptance.

"Beyond a greeting, aloha can describe a deep love and respect for people—including oneself—and places. The ancient kahunas (priests) taught that living the Spirit of Aloha meant sending and receiving positive energy to everything and everyone in your environment." (PBS, American Masters)

The benevolent gesture of the sculpture is symbolic of the traditional Hawaiian customs of 'Aloha' and 'Ho'okipa', the Native Hawaiian value of hospitality and giving. Native Hawaiians have always believed in selflessly extending themselves to others, whether they had close ties with them or not. This is an ideal sentiment for artwork representing the renovated Ho'okipa Cottage, where women learn ways they can individually grow and contribute to the greater community. The more one cares for the world, the greater the world will sustain and provide.

Update 2/21/2024: Metal is back from Madd Castings and now the sculpture is being pieced back together at DeDecker Studio. 

11/18/2022: Jane DeDecker's latest casting of her monumental bronze sculpture "YMCA" will soon grace the entry of The Ottawa YMCA in Ottawa, IL. Pictured here is the sculpture in clay in Jane's Studio when she first sculpted the piece in 2006. For this placement the family donating the sculpture to the Y have requested a modification to one of the portraits to capture the likeness of their daughter. These commemorations make what we do that much more special. The sculpture will be placed in 2024.

"My themes are recurring: Spirit, Love, Forgiveness, Healing, Relationship, Endurance, the Sacredness of the Human Spirit, and the Strength in each of us, the Power of all that is Natural. "Moulding Our Future" embodies all of these messages." 
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"Moulding Our Future" has been warmly received around the world and the recipient of many awards. The bronze sculpture is 86" tall and finished in a multicolored patina.

The dedication was a huge success, we especially  love seeing the real Gene Bess with the sculpture. Gary really enjoyed spending time with the real Gene Bess too. What a great individual to commemorate. Thanks Three Rivers College. 

We are very pleased to share that National Sculptors' Guild Fellow Michael Warrick has been recognized by the Arkansas Arts Council as the 2020 Arkansas Living Treasure for his work and dedication to the craft of metalworking.

“Creating and teaching are very important to me,” Warrick said. “I have made it a personal goal to help others learn and create through the craft of metalworking. In my own creative metalwork, it is my hope that I can bring elements of our humanity and history through the craft.”

Warrick, who teaches at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has been shown locally and internationally. His work was shown in a solo touring exhibition in 1996 that appeared in the Strause Gallery of the Arkansas Arts Center. A recent sample of Warrick’s work sits in front of the main entrance to the new Windgate Art + Design building at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

Warrick’s work has appeared in exhibitions and public installations locally and worldwide. He regularly does commission work, including a piece he created in 2017 for the Little Rock Sister City Commission to give to the City of Hanam in South Korea. A video about that project is available via UALRTV.

Warrick is currently completing an 18-foot stainless-steel with gold leaf sculpture "Mockingbird/Orange Tree" commissioned through the National Sculptors' Guild for The Groves in Whittier, California.

Warrick has studied his craft for more than 30 years. He started learning metalworking in 1967, when he took an industrial arts class in high school that included welding. He became a certified welder in 1972 and worked on large-scale mining equipment trucks, industrial fixtures and railroad cars.

He attended Illinois State University as an art student in 1976. There, he learned metal casting and sculpting, and as a graduate student, he learned to work with cast iron. By 1995, he had picked up the technique of ceramic shell casting, which allowed him to cast finer and thinner bronze works.

Warrick is constantly learning, experimenting and evolving. In 2015, he learned 3D printing with polylactic acid plastic (PLA) and used the new technology in tandem with traditional lost wax casting for his metalwork. The resulting large-scale, 21-by-15-by-15-foot sculpture sits today outside the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. The sculpture is a fascinating mix of stainless steel, bronze, glass and concrete that celebrates the Louisiana Purchase.

“I am a firm believer that there is much value to learning traditional methods for creating in cast metal,” Warrick said. “I am also curious about contemporary techniques in the production of objects and how they might be enhanced by joining old and new techniques.”

Warrick is committed to maintaining and advancing his craft through mentoring, teaching, lecturing, demonstrating and building through teamwork. Since joining UALR in the fall of 1990, Warrick has been instrumental in securing grants, including one to build a foundry and kilns for metal casting for the university. Another grant allowed him to bring in renowned lecturers in metalworking. He also sat on a committee that brought public sculptures to the university to “embellish the culturally rich environment.” 

Warrick is known as a dedicated instructor who teaches multiple metalworking courses. He said being a mentor to metalworking students is vital because mentors perpetuate the craft and can change lives. He has mentored students at ULAR, supervised interns from the University of Central Arkansas and taught students from his home studio. He has consulted and taught workshops and classes in Indiana and Tennessee.