1. Russell Faxon website

Russ Faxon, a renowned bronze sculptor who lives in Bell Buckle, Tenn., grew up in Bowling Green, Ky., and earned his bachelor’s degree in Art Education from WKU in 1973.  He was born in Independence Missouri in 1951.

After graduation and teaching in Nashville for two years, Faxon traveled to Europe to study and pursue his passion for sculpture. In Italy, he learned the fine art of bronze casting at the Mariani Foundry in Pietrasanta.

In 1979, he moved to Bell Buckle TN where he established Selah Studio. In his work, Faxon concentrates on capturing the expression, emotion and spirit of the human figure, modeled in clay and cast in bronze through the “lost wax” casting process. Ranging in size from table models to monumental figures, Faxon’s sculptures are designed for specific locations, personal interiors and public spaces in the United States and Europe.

Faxon has three works on the WKU campus — Robert Guthrie at the Guthrie Bell Tower, Coach E.A. Diddle at Diddle Arena and the Red Towel at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium. Two additional pieces — WKU mascot Big Red and former WKU Alumni Association Director Lee Robertson — will soon be added.

Some of Faxon’s other life-size bronze sculptures include Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.; Chet Atkins at Bank of America in Nashville; John Pemberton, creator of Coca-Cola in Atlanta; Uncle Herschel and Stella at Cracker Barrel Corp. in Lebanon, Tenn.; Gov. Ned McWherter in Dresden, Tenn.; Johnson Memorial Plaza at Nashville’s Belmont University; Bedford County Veterans Memorial in Shelbyville, Tenn.; and the Korean War Memorial for the State of Tennessee at the Legislative Plaza in Nashville.

Faxon has had 26 public commissions to date and has exhibited his work throughout the United States and internationally. He received the Elliot Gantz & Co. Foundry Prize at the National Sculpture Society 75th Annual Exhibition in 2008 and was inducted into the Bowling Green High School Hall of Honor in 1994.