in 1930, at age 22, Marshall Fredericks won the prestigious Herman N. Matzen Scholarship while a student at the Cleveland School of Art. The $1000 scholarship ($15,000 in 2020 dollars) afforded Fredericks the opportunity to travel and study art abroad. 

In this previous post you can read that Fredericks first destination was to meet his mentor Carl Milles in Sweden.  After Fredericks left Sweden, he traveled extensively through Europe, and eventually went to the North African country of Morocco.  While there, Fredericks made a series of sketches of men and women that he saw on the streets.   In these drawings we see fez wearing men, a Berber woman playing a rebab and on ox carrying a heavy load.

These beautiful rarely seen sketches are from 1931 and showcase the drawing talents of Fredericks.    
  

In 1930 Marshall Fredericks traveled to Sweden to meet his mentor Carl Milles.  He must have been on cloud 9 the entire trip.   Marshall arrives in Sweden and goes to the school where Milles taught only to find out he has not taught there for 5 years.  A watchman at the school then calls Milles on the phone and Fredericks talks to him.  Milles invites him to his home and studio.  Happens all the time, right?

I can't imagine calling any of my mentors or idols today, and having them invite me to come meet them.  (Who to call first)... I am a big fan of the History Channel program Ancient Aliens.  If the team of Ancient Astronaut Theorists invited me to talk about UFO's and mysterious places on the planet, I would be dumbfounded.  I would go in a heartbeat, and tell my tale to the world. 

​Read Marshall Fredericks's account of meeting his mentor back in 1930.

My First Meeting with Carl Milles” by Marshall M. Fredericks
​ 

By: Geoffe Haney ~ Collection Manager

Marshall Fredericks's sculpture Boy and Bear  began a technological journey to be transformed into a small bronze sculpture through the process of Rapid Prototyping.  This technology would have fascinated and amazed Fredericks.  

I was fortunate to be part of the process which began last week by Mike Hall from Preferred Tech of Waterford, Michigan.  Hall brought his equipment to the museum and scanned the sculpture which resulted in a digital file from which a plastic model will be printed.  The model will then be sent to a bronze casting company in Lansing, Michigan where a mold will be created and a bronze will be cast.  

I will continue to update you on the process and let you know when the small Boy and Bear reproduction bronzes are available for purchase in the museum store.

By: Geoffe Haney ~ Collection Manager

We have many fun images for you to color.  Click the images below to start coloring and have fun!

The Spirit of Detroit is a large bronze sculpture created by Marshall Fredericks in 1958 and located at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.  The video below from 1959 will take you on a journey through the creation of Detroit's most viewed sculpture.

For much more information about The Spirit of Detroit
- View images from the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture  Museum Online Archives 
- Follow #TheSpiritofDetroit on Instagram