Bill Kilpatrick Art Work

A native New Jerseyan, Kilpatrick studied at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, the School of Visual Arts, and the Art Students' League (both located in New York City). As background for creating public sculpture, he worked from 1980 to 1990 with sculptor Donald DeLue, the creator of the D-Day Monument in an American cemetery above Omaha Beach. Kilpatrick now serves as president and artistic curator of the DeLue Foundation. He also was director of the Sculptors Association of New Jersey.

Kilpatrick's most recent public sculpture, a commission from New Jersey Transit, salutes the historic Morris Canal that crossed New Jersey during the 1800s. For the eight-foot grouping, Kilpatrick depicts a captain guiding his flat-bottom boat with one hand on the helm the other enfolding two passengers. The boats were said to be part of the underground railroad. The sculpture was dedicated earlier this year at the new light-rail system's Essex Street Station, Jersey City.

Among the artist's other private and corporate commissions are a 12-foot football player standing at Florida's Citrus Bowl; a bull and bear for a brokerage firm's headquarters; and Lakewood's Kimball Center Humanitarian Award, a free-standing sculpture. Kilpatrick created the Earth Day International Environmental Award that has been presented to, among others, Vice President Gore and Green Peace.

He also is represented in Orlando with a life-size memorial statue of a beloved Mayor Beardall. In the charming informal pose that was commissioned by the city, Mayor Beardall is sitting outside on a bench. A young grandson on his knee is reaching to feed a seagull. The portrait of a sunny, human moment has become a local icon in downtown Orlando.

The artist has studios in the Highlands, where he lives, and in New York City. His work is included in private collections in the U.S., Canada, and France.

•  Bill Kilpatrick Art Work