Ed Hamilton sculptor biography

Ed Hamilton is a resident of Louisville, Kentucky. He has been married to Bernadette for thirty-six years. Bernadette, a graduate of the University of Louisville, is the Director of Options, Magnet and Advance Programs for the Jefferson County Public School System, and past President of KAGE, “Kentucky Association of Gifted Education”. Son, Edward the III, resides in Orlando, Florida and a daughter, Kendra Jenelle, is a graduate of the class of 2000 from Kentucky State University, left Louisville for a year and a half to live in Los Angeles, CA. She now resides in Louisville Kentucky.

Ed is a graduate of the Shawnee High School class of 1965 and a graduate of the Louisville School of Art class of 1969. While attending the University of Louisville and Spalding College in the early seventies, an opportunity came along which would change his life forever. While working on getting certified to teach in the public school system, He would meet the late Sculptor, Barney Bright and begin a lasting relationship and continue his quest of having his own sculpting studio while working as an apprentice under Mr. Bright.

Active in his community, Ed has spent time teaching workshops and lectures for public schools, colleges, and conferences. He opens his studio for tours and is often called on to judge art exhibits. He has created opportunities for other artist to work and hone their crafts and skills. He has taught sculpture at Jefferson Community College, is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and a long time member of St. George’s Episcopal Church. He has served on various boards and panels for community arts organizations, the Episcopal Diocese of Kentucky, and the Community Arts/Fund for the Arts. He is a former member of the Mayor’s Advisory Panel on Public Art and has currently been appointed by the Governor to the Kentucky Military Museum in Frankfort, Kentucky. In May of 2000 he was given a Doctor of Humane Letters from Spalding University. On July 9, 2001 he was inducted in the Gallery of Great Black Kentuckians. Sponsored by the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. On December 16, 2004 Ed received a Doctor of Arts honorary Degree from the University of Louisville, and was the commencement speaker. On December 18, 2004 Ed received an Honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green Kentucky and was also the commencement speaker for this graduation.

He has created and has received numerous awards. In 1980 he created the “Black Achievers Award”, and in 1990 he became a Black Achiever. In 1999 he was chosen as a Distinguished Achiever of the year. In 1996 he was the recipient of the Governor’s Artist Award in the Arts. He created the first “ Isaac Murphy Award,” given through the local NAACP and later given by Churchill Downs to selected community members. He created the annual ”Lift Award” for the Canaan Community Development Corporation, and the Annual Smith Award given to newspapers in the USA commissioned by Bruce Fox Corporation in New Albany, Indiana.

In 2001 Hamilton was one of four jurors that selected the winning design for the Patriots Peace Memorial to be build in Louisville, Kentucky. His most recent public work, the “Spirit of Freedom” the first National Memorial in the District of Columbia has achieved worldwide acclaim. This tribute to the Colored Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War now stands at 10th and U Streets NW in Washington D.C. It was dedicated on July 18, 1998. Other public memorials of note include the Amistad Memorial in New Haven, CT. 1992, the Joe Louis Memorial dedicated at Cobo Hall in 1987, the Booker T. Washington Memorial dedicated May 12, 1984, Whitney M. Young Jr. dedicated in Frankfort, Kentucky on the Kentucky State University campus, October 9, 1998, the Lenny Lyles Memorial dedicated October 13, 2000 at Cardinal Park Complex, on the University of Louisville campus. A memorial plaque in honor of Dr. Thomas Clark, Kentucky’s Historian resides in the lobby of the Frankfort Historical Center in Frankfort Kentucky, and the Vic Hellard, Jr. Memorial Plaque installed in our State Capital building in Frankfort Kentucky.

Hamilton has many works in both private and corporate collections including an original two foot model and a full bust of Sengbe Pieh from the courtroom side of the Amistad Memorial, and a bronze bust of a soldier from the Spirit of Freedom Memorial in the Speed Art Museum permanent collection in Louisville, Kentucky. In June of 2002 Speed Museum held an exhibit for Hamilton titled, “From the Other Side” and unveiled a sculpture in honor of the late Barbara S. Miller, who was chair of the Community Support and Outreach Committee and formerly chair of the Nominating and Education committees at Speed Museum. Ed is now a member of the Community Support and Outreach Committee, and now serves on the Board of Governors of Speed Museum.

The exhibit ”From the Other Side” ran from June 11, through December 29, 2002 at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville.

Currently Ed has finished working on a Memorial to honor York, the slave of William Clark, who was a vital part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806. The 8’ ft. heroic Bronze is mounted on a four foot sculpted natural rock formation designed by Museumrock Products of Louisville, Kentucky and is placed on the Belvedere plaza in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. The York Memorial was part of the Bicentennial celebration of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The Memorial was commissioned by The City of Louisville under former Mayor David Armstrong. The unveiling took place on October 14, 2003.

In May of 2004, a life-size frontier family sculpture titled “Migration to the West” was installed in the lobby of the new Frazier Historical Arms Museum, in downtown Louisville, KY.

In October, 2004, Ed participated in “Washington Symbol and City,” highlighting Monuments of Washington DC.