NOMMA Member, John Medwedeff, is a 2016 Top Job Gold Winner with 26.5' Tall Sculpture

John Medwedeff has been producing site-specific public sculpture, sculptural fountains, architectural ironwork, and furniture for more than 25 years. His work is represented in private and public collections including the John Deere Collection, the Metal Museum, the Illinois State Museum, the University School of Nashville, SAS Inc, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. 

At age 19, he began a three-year blacksmithing apprenticeship with Jim Wallace at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and later earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from SIU Carbondale.

Concurrent with running his studio, John has curated exhibitions, taught sculpture and blacksmithing workshops at numerous craft schools, and lectured at universities and symposia across the country. He also has an active family life with his wife, poet and graphic designer, Cynthia Roth, and their son James. His art has been featured in numerous books and the journals Sculpture, Art & Antiques, Architectural Digest, and Metalsmith. He has also written the forward for and has work included in "From Fire to Form, Sculpture from the Modern Blacksmith and Metalsmith". WTTW Chicago and WSIU Carbondale recently featured John in Arts Across Illinois and WSIU In Focus in-depth public television programs about his life and work.

Most recently, John entered one of his projects in NOMMA’s Top Job contest, specifically under the Art/Sculpture category. This 26.5' tall x 19' x 9' sculpture, inspired by natural phenomena, designed by John, was commissioned by SWH Residential Partners for a commercial and retail development near the Tennessee State Capital in Nashville. The artwork and construction methodology was realized by working through a series of scale models, prior to full scale fabrication. The design process starts with sketches and paper models, then progresses to 1/12 scale model built by John and a 1/4 scale metal model built by Medwedeff Forge & Design staff. All of the patterns were digitized in house using a Rhino program called DraftSite and scaled accordingly. Then, it was laser and plasma cut from 3/16", 3/8", 1/2", and 1 1/2" thick steel. Full scale construction took about 1,600 hours. Most of the forming was done in a 10' wide pyramid roll. A mechanical screw press, a hydraulic press, as well as portable hydraulic tools were used in conjunction with the rolling operations. All components of the forms were assembled into larger sections that could then be hoisted into position for final welding as the sculpture was vertically constructed within a custom designed scaffolding system built by Keeler Iron Works in Memphis. The surface was sanded smooth and rusted then clear coated. The challenge of working at this scale requires a tremendous effort of planning and logistics. Nothing can be left to chance. Especially the safe loading, shipping, and installation of a large sculpture in one piece, less the base requires precision. Bost Truck Service provided the transportation and AmQuip Crane Rental set the sculpture in place. The installation was completed in two hours and went as planned.

The team that worked on this piece included Sven Bauer, a German blacksmith who was working at Medwedeff Forge & Design for two years while in the U.S. on a cultural exchange visa. While employed at Medwedeff Forge & Design, Sven also taught workshops with students at the Appalachian Center for Crafts and Southern Illinois University, demonstrated at for the Bonneville Forge Council, and assisted Francisco Gazitua at the 2014 ABANA Conference. The others were Dan Widolff who at the time was an undergraduate student in blacksmithing at SIU, and Dan Crabtree who is now starting his own business.