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  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • Resources
  • Create
    • Botanical Ornament
    • Coloring Pages
    • Draw and Share
    • From Drawing to Wire Sculpture
    • Paper Mache
    • Sculpt And Share
    • Soap Carving
  • S.T.E.A.M.
    • Outdoor Sculpture
    • The Science of Metal Casting
    • Sculpture Garden Plant Life
  • Virtual Exhibitions
    • John Brown
    • Off Kilter
    • Exposure
    • Monuments
    • Mosaic
    • Carl Fredericks
    • Harold Neal
    • Tradition Interrupted
    • Notes From the Quarantimes
    • Luis Garza Photographs
    • RBJSE 2021
    • Michigan Modern
    • Form Foundations
    • Hip Hop Icons
    • Mark Beltchenko: SOS
    • Explorations in Wood
  • Virtual Field Trip
  • Virtual Tour
  • NEA Big Read
    • What is Big Read?
    • House on Mango Street
    • Big Read Calendar
    • Mi Casa, Su Casa >
      • Story Library
    • Big Read Survey
    • Public Art Project >
      • Bay County Art Project
      • Midland County Art Project
      • Saginaw County Art Project
  MARSHALL FREDERICKS ONLINE EXHIBITIONS
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Blog

Welcome to the official blog for Marshall M. Fredericks, America’s Public Sculptor. Museum staff will share stories about his life, art, and behind the scenes at the Museum. Be sure to “comment”, “like”, and enjoy!  

Sculptor of Billboards

4/15/2020

1 Comment

 
!You've heard it said before... location is everything. Being a prominent Detroit sculptor, Marshall Fredericks's talents did not go unnoticed by many including General Motors.  In the mid 1950s  Fredericks was hired for a unique project, create a billboard for a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air.

Billboards used to be great works of art. Go ahead and Search Google for 1950s billboards.  Lot of great billboards right?!  

Marshall Fredericks soon found a 1955 Chevy in his Royal Oak, Michigan studio.  He carefully took measurements from the car to create a side view, relief sculpture of the automobile.
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Marshall Fredericks creating his version of the 1955 Chevrolet in his Royal Oak, Michigan studio. Photo: Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Archives
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Marshall Fredericks works on the details of the 1955 Chevrolet clay model in his Royal Oak, Michigan studio. Photo: Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Archives
Fredericks worked in clay to meticulously sculpt the car's exact likeness.  Once he finished, a fiberglass sculpture was created from the clay and was added to the billboard.

The billboard was installed by the Detroit advertising firm 
Walker and Company.  Much research has gone into locating that original billboard, but it's whereabouts are currently unknown. 
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Print ad from the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air. Photo: Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Archives
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Fredericks's billboard proudly sits along a Detroit, Michigan Freeway in 1955. Photo: Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum Archives
By: Geoffe Haney ~ Collections Manager
1 Comment
Carl Fredericks
4/16/2020 11:50:15 am

This is a great story of his early work as a sculptor in his own domain.

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