Sherry Peticolas
Sherman Goodwin Peticolas Jr. (February 19, 1904 – May 3, 1956), known as Sherry Peticolas, was an American sculptor and art teacher active in Los Angeles, California, United States in the first half of the 20th century.
Education and career
[edit]Peticolas studied with Merrell Gage and Tolles Chamberlain and at the Chouinard Institute.[1] He also studied with Gutzon Borglum and worked as his assistant for a time.[2] He started showing with the Painters' and Sculptors' Club in 1930.[3] In 1934 Peticolas was one of three collaborators, along with Henry Lion and Jason Herron, who created a Public Works of Art piece in cast concrete called Water Power, for Lafayette Park.[4][5] Peticolas created a death mask of Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1935.[6] His best-known work, the colossal statue of Juan Bautista de Anza at Newman Park in Riverside, was installed in 1940.[7] He also sculpted Fountain Figure at Bonita Union High School in La Verne, Alexander Hamilton at Alexander Hamilton High School.[8] a statue installed at Frank Wiggins Trade School (now L.A. Trade Tech), and granite finials for Memorial Park in Redlands.[9]
Peticolas served as supervisor of sculpture for the Federal Art Project in Southern California.[10][11] With Gordon Newell he created bas reliefs for post office buildings in Colton, Hollywood, Inglewood, and San Fernando, California as part of the Treasury Relief Art Project of the U.S. Treasury Department.[11][12][13]
Peticolas also taught sculpture at Otis Art Institute.[1]
Personal life
[edit]Born in Waterloo, Iowa,[14] Peticolas moved to Los Angeles in 1926.[15] Peticolas was married first to Helen, with whom he had two children, David and Norma. Peticolas was married second to the ceramicist Gwynne Hill (born Mary Edna Hutchinson).[16] Peticolas died of peritonitis[17] while was Gwynne was overseas in Japan adopting a little boy who had been fathered by an American GI after World War II.[1]
Some biographies of Peticolas, including in Edan Milton Hughes' Artists in California, 1786–1940, have mistakenly described him using she/her pronouns.[9]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Hill, Gwynne; Fremont, John (1989). A path of many windings. Internet Archive. Fort Bragg, Calif.: QED Press. pp. 200 (education), 216, 218–219 (death). ISBN 978-0-936609-15-7.
- ^ "Sculpture School to Be Opened Here". The Great Falls Leader. March 5, 1934. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Painters and Sculptors Club". The Los Angeles Times. December 28, 1930. p. 28. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Monuments". The Los Angeles Times. April 1, 1934. p. 38. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Sculptors Bringing Handiwork to View". The Los Angeles Times. September 2, 1934. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ Bergman, Jill (February 7, 2017). Charlotte Perkins Gilman and a Woman's Place in America. University of Alabama Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-0-8173-1936-6.
- ^ Ainsworth, Ed (April 9, 1940). "Massive De Anza Statue Put Together in Riverside". The Los Angeles Times. p. 43. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Southland Artist Dinner". The Southwest Wave. September 30, 1948. p. 21. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ a b Hughes, Edan Milton (1989). Artists in California, 1786–1940. San Francisco: Hughes Publishing Co. p. 463.
- ^ "Sherry G Peticolas Jr.", United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007 – via FamilySearch
- ^ a b "Sherry Peticolas". The Los Angeles Times. May 20, 1956. p. 122. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Sherry Peticolas - New Deal Sites". Living New Deal. UC Berkeley Geography Dept. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ Second Report on Treasury Art Projects / Arts Digest. Art Digest Incorporated. 1937. p. 22.
- ^ Falk, Peter H. (1999). Who was who in American Art 1564–1975: 400 Years of Artists in America. Sound View Press. p. 2590. ISBN 978-0-932087-55-3.
- ^ "Kingsley Club Members Hear L.A. Sculptor". The Sacramento Union. April 16, 1935. p. 5. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Gwynne Hill Exhibit Featured at Dolphin". Independent Coast Observer. February 12, 1982. p. 4. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
- ^ "Entry for Sherman Or Sherry Goodwin Peticolas and Sherman G Peticolas, 3 May 1956". California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994 – via FamilySearch.