Meet the Artists

Friedrich St.Florian - Memorial Designer

 

Friedrich St. Florian

Friedrich St.Florian was born in Graz, Austria in 1932. Interested in architecture since his youth, he studied at the Graz University of Technology. He came to the United States to study urban design at Columbia University in New York City. He taught at Columbia briefly before joining the Rhode Island School of Design, presiding over the Department of Architecture and Design.

Since 1974 he has worked as a professional architect in the United States. Keeping his base of operations in Rhode Island, he heads the firm Friedrich St.Florian Architects. He is also a Fellow with the American Institute of Architects. Among his noted works are the commercial venture Providence Place and the Providence Skybridge, both in Rhode Island. In the span of his career he has won several awards for his work, and in 2006 Brown University honored him with the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts.

His signature work is the design of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. His vision emerged victorious in a competition in 1997 from over 400 other entrants who vied for the project. He remembered the challenge of protecting the view between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, as the new memorial would be placed between the two, as well as encompassing the Rainbow Pool which rests at the west end of the Reflecting Pool.

St.Florian remembered “I made that sketch showing the plaza sunken into the ground, with earth berms on the side. I looked up and I said, ‘I think we have a winning design!’” On site work began in earnest in 2001, with the memorial opening for the public in April of 2004, and a formal dedication over Memorial Day weekend of that year.

 

Ray Kaskey - Sculptor

 

Raymond Kaskey, courtesy of Kaskey Studios.

Born in 1943, Raymond Kaskey is the artist responsible for the sculpture elements in the World War II Memorial. He went to school at Carnegie Mellon University in his hometown of Pittsburgh, and Yale University. Among his noted works are the statue of owner and founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney at Heinz Field as well as the lion sculptures at the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Initially, Mr. Kaskey was part of a failed submission of a group in their effort to design the World War II Memorial. Although his group did not emerge from the more than 400 entrants, he was recognized by a member of the team headed by Friedrich St.Florian and agreed to be added to their number. St. Florian’s team was among the six finalists, and ultimately chosen to craft the new memorial.

Mr. Kaskey’s art permeates St.Florian’s overall design. The Freedom Wall with its 4,048 gold stars; the eagles holding aloft the laurel wreath of victory; the wreaths, which bedeck the state and territorial pillars; the bases of the flagpoles; and the 24 bas reliefs which depict the home front and battle fronts which define the American experience are all the work of Kaskey’s studio based in Brentwood, Maryland. Live models were used to depict the scenes in each relief. Even something which may be considered an afterthought, the storm drain grates are depicted in a star and stripes design which carry away rainwater from the memorial are also Kaskey originals.

 

Nick Benson - Inscription Artist

 

Nicholas Waite Benson began working at the John Stevens Shop at 15 under his father, John Everett Benson. By the age of 18, he was carving commissioned work from his father’s designs. In 1987, he began an intensive year of study in Switzerland at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Schule für Gestaltung, Basel. He returned to the U.S. in 1988 and continued to work under John Benson. Upon John’s retirement in 1993, Nicholas took over as owner and creative director of the John Stevens Shop where he continues to work to the high standards set by his predecessors. He has also designed and carved inscriptions for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, C, and the Roosevelt Memorial, Roosevelt Island, New York City. In 2010, Benson was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.