Mike Leckie

File:Mike Leckie 2011.png

Michael Stuart Leckie (born June 30, 1950) is a neo-classical sculptor in Eugene, Oregon, United States.{{Cite web|url=http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2004/01/29/culture|title=Eugene Weekly : Culture : 01.29.04 {{!}} eugeneweekly.com|website=www.eugeneweekly.com|access-date=2016-05-25}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2002/01/11/leddick/|title=Male nudes, now|last=Helfand|first=Glen|website=Salon|access-date=2016-05-25}}

Early life

Leckie grew up in Eastern Oregon on a 500 head cattle ranch 35 miles from Fossil, Oregon.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2008/07/sculptor_finds_art_in_athletic.html|title=Sculptor finds art in athletics|website=OregonLive.com|access-date=2016-03-21}} As a country boy, he grew up on a horse, learned to ride bulls and spent time competing in the junior rodeo circuit.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2008/07/sculptor_finds_art_in_athletic.html|title=Sculptor finds art in athletics|website=OregonLive.com|access-date=2016-03-21}}

Education

File:Reading Girl 2007.jpg

Leckie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Metalsmithing from Oregon State University in 1973 and has done post graduate study and teach art at Instituto Allende in San Miguel Allende, Mexico; at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; at California State University, Long Beach; at University of California, Los Angeles; and at the University of Oregon.{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=20040118&id=PlNWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uesDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6669,4143407&hl=en|title=Eugene Register-Guard - Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=2016-03-21}} He began carving marble while attending a graduate studies seminar at the University of Oregon, in 1981.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2008/07/sculptor_finds_art_in_athletic.html|title=Sculptor finds art in athletics|website=OregonLive.com|access-date=2016-03-21}}

Career

Leckie imports carving stones from Italy, Portugal, China, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and Mexico to his open-air studio in the Oregon forest near Eugene.{{Cite web|url=http://mikeleckie.com/about/|title=About - MikeLeckie.com|website=mikeleckie.com|access-date=2016-03-21}}

Leckie was sanctioned to create the Official Art of the 2008, 2012 and 2016 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2008/07/sculptor_finds_art_in_athletic.html|title=Sculptor finds art in athletics|website=OregonLive.com|access-date=2016-03-21}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/feb/10/swiped-sculpture-finds-its-way-home/|title=Swiped sculpture finds its way home|website=Spokesman.com|access-date=2016-05-25}}

In 2013 he was commissioned by the Mary LcLeod Bethune Humanitarian Network to create "The First Ladies of Diversity" for a proposed National Monument to Mary McLeod Bethune and Eleanor Roosevelt.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

In 2009, the city of Albany, Oregon commissioned a marble statue for its library. "The Reading Girl" is five foot tall statue that greets visitors entering the library.{{Cite web|url=http://democratherald.com/news/local/statue-welcomes-albany-library-patrons/article_62e11516-5e06-11df-b9c8-001cc4c03286.html|title=Statue welcomes Albany library patrons|last=Democrat-Herald|first=Cathy Ingalls, Albany|website=Albany Democrat Herald|access-date=2016-03-21}}

In 2008 he was commissioned by the Sidney Frank Importing Co. to create a Bronze Portrait Head of Sidney Frank as an award to honor "Excellence in Advertising" by the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America. {{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

In 1989 he was commissioned for bas-relief work for the World Champion Masters Track Meet in Eugene, Oregon. {{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}