08.04.16 Field of Sculpture by Roger Majorowicz in Summer
Roger Majorowicz 1931-2014
Roger Majorowicz was born in western South Dakota during the Great Depression to Roy and Ruby Majorowicz and grew up on a ranch among the Lakota Sioux tribe.
It was a childhood of the Wild West, doing chores with seven sisters and brothers, traveling by horse to school and riding bucking bulls in rodeos.
Early on Roger’s family recognized his artistic ability, which was nurtured by his older sister Betty, who moved to the big city and sent him colored pencils and encouraged his curiosity about the world of art. But Uncle Sam and the Korean War had other ideas and Roger left his isolated world of the ranch.
After the war, Roger graduated from the Minneapolis School of Art and was awarded a scholarship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, where he won the school’s top award. This experience shifted Roger’s direction from cartooning (he worked for Charles Schultz on “Peanuts” in Minneapolis) to sculpture. After graduation he received a Fulbright Fellowship to study sculpture at the Institute D’Arte in Florence, Italy, where he lived for three years.
Prior to moving to Maine in 1981, Roger spent more than two decades teaching sculpture at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, in Baltimore. He was a charismatic teacher, full of energy and passion. His work is featured in museums and galleries around the world, including Carrara, Milan, Spoleto and Rome, Italy; Munich, Germany; and New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and many other cities in the United States. He created more than 40 public commissions around the United States, most of them on monumental scale. Many of his sculptures can be seen in schools, public buildings and libraries throughout the City of Baltimore, and across the State of Maine, from South Berwick middle school to the elementary school of Fort Fairfield. In the central Maine area his work is featured at the Laura Richards School in Gardiner, the Whitefield Elementary School and the University of Maine at Augusta.
Roger’s home and Iron Horse sculpture studio along the Sheepscot River in Maine borders a field enhanced by his wildly fantastic sculptures, some more than 30 feet tall with moveable parts. He drew inspiration from many sources, including mystical themes, his western heritage, the human figure, and the landscape. He was happiest when he was making art in his own studio with doors wide open on a beautiful summer day. Roger often said that he understood things better than people. Probably for that reason, he often had little to say about his work except to describe the process, materials, dimensions and his intent. He saw how things fit together for him and he was always curious about other people’s perceptions. He could talk about composition, balance and technique, but his ideas about art always came back to his own vision of the world and his need to express himself in three dimensions. His art evokes words like integrity and strength and always harken back to the basic elements of wind, earth and fire.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; his four children, Mara, Brett, Tanya and Erin; sisters, Betty and Joyce; brother, A.K.; and a large extended family.
Roger brought passion to everything he did, whether it was building floats for the Fourth of July parade, retracing steps of an 18th century explorer through Central America, raising geese or day lilies, collecting antique axes or tending to his huge vegetable garden.
His wish was that he would be remembered by his family and friends when they make or buy a piece of art, visit a gallery or museum, or give a word of encouragement to an artist. At his core, Roger was an artist. He believed that art captured the meaning of life and made the world a better place.
From 27 south in Pittston, take 194 East (Pittston Road) to Whitefield, turn onto 218 South (Wiscasset Road) and within a mile, next to the Sheepscot River, you find a Field of Sculpture by Roger Majorowicz.
Read MoreRoger Majorowicz was born in western South Dakota during the Great Depression to Roy and Ruby Majorowicz and grew up on a ranch among the Lakota Sioux tribe.
It was a childhood of the Wild West, doing chores with seven sisters and brothers, traveling by horse to school and riding bucking bulls in rodeos.
Early on Roger’s family recognized his artistic ability, which was nurtured by his older sister Betty, who moved to the big city and sent him colored pencils and encouraged his curiosity about the world of art. But Uncle Sam and the Korean War had other ideas and Roger left his isolated world of the ranch.
After the war, Roger graduated from the Minneapolis School of Art and was awarded a scholarship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, where he won the school’s top award. This experience shifted Roger’s direction from cartooning (he worked for Charles Schultz on “Peanuts” in Minneapolis) to sculpture. After graduation he received a Fulbright Fellowship to study sculpture at the Institute D’Arte in Florence, Italy, where he lived for three years.
Prior to moving to Maine in 1981, Roger spent more than two decades teaching sculpture at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, in Baltimore. He was a charismatic teacher, full of energy and passion. His work is featured in museums and galleries around the world, including Carrara, Milan, Spoleto and Rome, Italy; Munich, Germany; and New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and many other cities in the United States. He created more than 40 public commissions around the United States, most of them on monumental scale. Many of his sculptures can be seen in schools, public buildings and libraries throughout the City of Baltimore, and across the State of Maine, from South Berwick middle school to the elementary school of Fort Fairfield. In the central Maine area his work is featured at the Laura Richards School in Gardiner, the Whitefield Elementary School and the University of Maine at Augusta.
Roger’s home and Iron Horse sculpture studio along the Sheepscot River in Maine borders a field enhanced by his wildly fantastic sculptures, some more than 30 feet tall with moveable parts. He drew inspiration from many sources, including mystical themes, his western heritage, the human figure, and the landscape. He was happiest when he was making art in his own studio with doors wide open on a beautiful summer day. Roger often said that he understood things better than people. Probably for that reason, he often had little to say about his work except to describe the process, materials, dimensions and his intent. He saw how things fit together for him and he was always curious about other people’s perceptions. He could talk about composition, balance and technique, but his ideas about art always came back to his own vision of the world and his need to express himself in three dimensions. His art evokes words like integrity and strength and always harken back to the basic elements of wind, earth and fire.
He is survived by his wife, Mary; his four children, Mara, Brett, Tanya and Erin; sisters, Betty and Joyce; brother, A.K.; and a large extended family.
Roger brought passion to everything he did, whether it was building floats for the Fourth of July parade, retracing steps of an 18th century explorer through Central America, raising geese or day lilies, collecting antique axes or tending to his huge vegetable garden.
His wish was that he would be remembered by his family and friends when they make or buy a piece of art, visit a gallery or museum, or give a word of encouragement to an artist. At his core, Roger was an artist. He believed that art captured the meaning of life and made the world a better place.
From 27 south in Pittston, take 194 East (Pittston Road) to Whitefield, turn onto 218 South (Wiscasset Road) and within a mile, next to the Sheepscot River, you find a Field of Sculpture by Roger Majorowicz.
