By Chris Valley

Hidden away in a residential neighborhood of Athens, Georgia, are the home and the studio of one of America’s most renowned sculptors, William J. Thompson. Professor of art and chairman of the Sculpture Area at the University of Georgia, Thompson and his family also area active members of St. Joseph’s Church in Athens.

A quiet, unassuming man, he is known to friends and colleagues alike as “Bill.” His studio, just next to his home, is filled with evidence of his work: busts, clay models, wood chips are everywhere. As you stand in his studio, you practically sense the creation of order out of the chaos.

Among Thompson’s works most visible to the public are the bronze sculpture of Senator Richard B. Russell on the lawn of the State Capital, the sculpture of Robert W. Woodruff for the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, and the monument to American prisoners of war at the Andersonville National Historic Site. He also designed the tabernacle for Holy Family Church in Marietta and the “Risen Christ” for St. Patrick’s Church in Norcross.

Recently the Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn., commissioned him to design and execute a seven-foot tall wood carving of the “Madonna and Child.” This work will be placed in the Cathedral of St. Mary.

The Cathedral is being liturgically reoriented and renovated by Frank Kacmarcik and by Theo R. Butler of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. It was built in the 1920s in the Romanesque style. The renovation is an updating, not a restoration. Thompson’s “Madonna and Child” will dominate the area designated as the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary where one of the side altars was formerly. The Minnesota Society of Architects, a regional branch of the American Institute of Architects, presented an award for the redesigned Cathedral to Kacmarcik and Butler.

Kacmarcik says that he selected Thompson to sculpt the “Madonna and Child” because of his artistic reputation and previous work.

How does one begin creating a work of art to be viewed by thousands of people over a lifetime?

Recalling nearly two years spent on this woodcarving, Thompson explains, “I first made drawings and sketches, and then a number of small clay models. After choosing one of the clay models I (enlarged) it to one-third scale, photographed it and sent it to them (Kacmarcik and Butler).”

After the design was accepted, Thompson cast it in plaster. He then put a metal outline of a block around it, across which he stretched string to approximate grid paper. A plumb line on top showed how far out different parts of the sculpture would have to be. Then he drew the same grid on the block of wood he would sculpt. He sketched out the front, back and sides. Then he started to cut, working on profiles from high point to high point. More detailed definition is not cut until he sculpture is roughed out.

“I work from the general to the more particular detail all the way,” notes Thompson. “The heads, faces and hands are oversize at first. I keep ‘feeling’ my way, cutting into the block of wood.”

Thompson selected linden wood for the sculpture. It is light in color, a fine grain wood which carves well. After the carving is completed, the wood will be rubbed over with a highly polished stone (burnished), so that the golden quality of the wood will show through. The sculpture is to be completed by the end of April.

How did Thompson become a sculptor? He knew that he wanted to be one since he was a child. “Just as a kid, I enjoyed making animals out of bread, pistols out of wax, or soldiers out of wood,” he remembers. “I went to the library and read about sculpture, anatomy and art.”

After high school, he attended the Rhode Island School of Design where he was awarded his bachelor’s degree. He pursued graduate studies at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and was awarded a Master of Fine Arts degree. Thompson began teaching at Ohio State University in 1954. Ten years later he came to the University of Georgia.

The whole Thompson family has been active in St. Joseph’s parish, according to Father Richard Kieran, pastor. Thompson’s wife, Claire, is an accomplished pianist, but only one of their six children is considering art as a career.

Sculpting is much like music, according to Thompson. “You compose with them both,” he says. “The form aspect of sculpting is like the lyrical quality of music. It is taking certain movements, and simplifying as you develop the theme.”

Those who have seen Thompson work would certainly agree.