Artist statement
Making sculpture has been my life. From my studio in southeast Texas I have been commissioned to create and install projects 20 feet tall in commercial, public, sacred and private settings. I have worked successfully with church vestries, bank boards, university committees, and even politicians.
I work in all materials – most of my largest works have been in bronze and other metals, but I also work in glass, wood, stone and ceramic. For commissions, after a site visit and discussions, I typically begin with clay or wax models, so the customer has a good feel for the project from concept to installation, and so I can gauge the successful integration of the work into the area it is destined for.
My sculptures have stood the test of time and storm. When Hurricane Rita came ashore on the heels of Katrina, she destroyed homes and tore down thousands of trees all over Beaumont, but my sculptures, like the heroic head of Mirabeau Lamar that is the symbol of Lamar University, still stand.
- David Cargill
Curriculum Vitae
1929 Born Huntsville, Texas
1946-48 Studies at Rice University, Houston
1948-51 Studies in Industrial Design, Pratt Institute, New York
1951 First two-man show, Beaumont Art Museum, first commissioned works
1952 B.A., Industrial Design, Pratt Institute, New York, and St. Michael’s Orthodox Church commission
1954 M.F.A., Sculpture, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
1955-56 Study and work in Europe
1956 Interlude III (marble); Family (10-foot mahogany, commission for First Federal)
1957 Commence construction of studio in Beaumont, Texas and Commissions for St. Elizabeth parish Exhibits in Lubbock and Beaumont Work reproduced in Life magazine
1958 Last Supper (5-ton marble commission for Forest Lawn Memorial Park), Cyclist (mahogany and steel), American Federation of Arts exhibit Reviewed in House & Garden
1960 Instructor of Art, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas
1962 Travel to Florence, Italy, to study and cast commissioned works at Guastini foundry
1964-65 Construction of foundry at Beaumont studio, a Ten-foot bronze commission for Trinity Methodist church Six-foot heroic bronze head of Mirabeau Lamar (Lamar University commission)
1965 The Family (Southwest Review cover reproduction)
1968 Horse and Rider installed at Stemmons Towers, Dallas, and Sphere of Art invitational showing, Hemisphere, San Antonio
1968 Bronzes Girl on a Fish and Asia
1970-71 Bronzes Shell, Kudu, Rhinocerous with Children, Giraffe
1971 Valley House one-man show, Dallas and Exhibit at Belgian Pavilion, San Antonio
1972 Commissions for St. Joseph’s Church, Port Arthur, Texas Four-man show, Longview Museum & Arts Center
1974 Beaumont Art Museum show
1974-present: Extensive public and private commissioned works, e.g., Trammell Crow, including Dallas Trade Center and Anatole Hotel; public art commissions in Beaumont; St. Jude’s Catholic Church (Beaumont); Kenilworth Church (Illinois); Bethlehem Lutheran Church (Beaumont); St. Henry’s Catholic Church (Bridge City); St. Stephens Episcopal Church (Beaumont)
1990 Dishman Gallery show, Lamar University
1990s St. Thomas University, Houston
1997 Chapel of St. Basil commissions (with Phillip Johnson), Houston
1998 American Institute of Architects Religious Art & Architecture Award for Chapel of St. Basil
2005 Art Museum of Southeast Texas show
2011 Four Artists, Three Generations show, IDK Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ
2012 Instructor of Art, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas. Vice President and Board Member, Art Council of Southeast Texas Life member, Art Museum of Southeast Texas.
selected public art
Rogers Brothers tribute, “Men of Vision”, bronze, Main Street, Beaumont, Texas
Bronze head of Mirabeau Lamar, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas
Bronze animals, Dallas Zoo, Dallas, Texas
Neon installation, Edison Plaza Museum Bronze Bull, Dallas Trade Center, Dallas, Texas (Trammell Crow commission)
Bronzes, Anatole Hotel, Dallas, Texas (Trammell Crow commission)
Glass Screen, Entergy Building, Beaumont, Texas
Art Museum of Southeast Texas: “Woman,” cedar wood
“Importance of Being Mary,” bronze
Smaller bronze works
Pearlstein historical marker, Beaumont, Texas
15 foot stainless steel “Winning,” Civic Center, Beaumont, Texas
Kinetic bronze, “Passengers from Earth,” Central Library, Beaumont, Texas
Bronze, Waldman Park, Beaumont, Texas
“Family,” bronze, Port Arthur library, Port Arthur, Texas
Bronze door, Ohmstede Machine Works, Beaumont, Texas
Mississippi Club, Jackson, Mississippi
Children’s Medical Center, Dallas
Oak Cliff Savings & Loan, Dallas
Texas Fine Arts Association, Austin
Churches and Schools
Bronze “Friendly Jesus,” Kenilworth Church, Kenilworth, Illinois
Bronze, Kelly High School, Beaumont, Texas
Chapel of St. Basil (Phillip Johnson) – installations including bas-relief stations of the cross, bronze Mary and child
Three bronzes, Brophy College Preparatory, Phoenix, Arizona
12 foot bronze cross, First Methodist Church, Beaumont, Texas
8 foot by 16 foot mahogany relief, First Methodist Church, Port Neches, Texas
Bethlehem Lutheran Church – installations including 12 foot mahogany cross, altar
Hammered lead relief, St. Stephens Episcopal Church, Beaumont, Texas
St. Henry’s Catholic Church, Bridge City, Texas – installations including altar, stations of the cross
St. Jude’s Catholic Church, Beaumont, Texas – installations including stained glass life-size stations of the cross, brass altar
Selwin School, Denton, Texas
work featured in magazines
Life magazine, 1957
House & Garden, 1958
Southwest Review, 1965
“Solace in the City,” Texas Highways (November 2001)
“The Winning,” Texas Highways (February 1993)
“The Chapel of St. Basil: A Splendid Risk,” Carson Daly, Crisis: Politics, Culture and the Church (December 2007)
Faith & Form (1998)
Cardinal Cadence (Sept-Nov 2005)
University of St. Thomas Magazine (Summer/Fall 1997)
Mission, Jesuits of the California Province (Spring 2005)
Men for Others, Brophy College Preparatory (February 1998)
Metropolitan Beaumont (May/June 1995)
“Man Made: Seasoned Sculptor David Cargill,” VIP of Southeast Texas (August 2016)