Kossuth on State

Mr. Wayne E. Thompson, Sculptor
Swea City, Iowa

Wayne E. Thompson was born October 27, 1924 in Swea City, Iowa and is a lifetime resident of Kossuth County. Wayne received his elementary and high school education at Swea City. After he graduated from high school, Wayne enrolled at Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa, for a short time but due to the labor shortage during World War II, Wayne retuned home to help with the farming operations. In 1944 Wayne enlisted in the U. S. Navy Air Corps serving two years. After completing his military service Wayne returned to farm in the Swea City area, retiring about 20 years ago. Wayne has had a lifelong interest in art although he had had little formal training. Wayne is a self-taught sculptor who built his own foundry and does his own bronze casting.

From a 1950 Latham Foundation certificate of Merit for a watercolor poster to present-day awards for bronze sculpture, art judges throughout the Midwest have shown an appreciation for Wayne Thompson’s detail in illustrating life in America. Wayne Thompson has worked with bronze for the past 20 years, creating collection and public art pieces. The sculptures are representational art with a Midwest theme. Mr. Thompson has cast over 100 different pieces since 1979.

His work has been selected for competition in many juried fine art shows, including the Mason City MacNider Museum, the Iowa Lakes Community College, the Lakes Art Center, the Region Nine juried art show in Mankato, Minnesota, the Iowa State University Alumni Art Show, the Iowa Wildlife in Art show in Des Moines, Iowa and the Polk County Heritage Gallery, Des Moines, Iowa. He is a past winner of the best of the show award at the Nobles County Art Show.

In 1982, out of 240 entries, a Thompson watercolor was one of twelve published in the Iowa Arts Council postcard collection. In 1984 he was represented in the Iowa Arts Council’s “Small Wonders” competition and exhibition, which toured throughout the state in educational facilities.

Mr. Thompson’s works are in private collections from Florida to Arizona as well as in the Midwest and foreign countries. Mr. Thompson has shown his work at the Lakes Art Center, the Iowa Lakes Community College, the Sandford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa, the Sanders Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, the Iowa State University Alumni Art Show, the Davenport Art Museum and is represented in the Artists of Iowa Collection in Waterloo, Iowa.

Mr. Thompson has extensive experience working with bronze and with large sculptures. Mr. Thompson has created a large outside steel sculpture at the Lakes Art Center at Okoboji, Iowa. He has also created sculptures twice the size of actual animals in steel frames for the City of Fairmont, Minnesota. His most recent large sculpture, prior to the undertaking of the statue of Lajos Kossuth, is his work entitled “In The Park”, which is a life size sculpture of a boy and girl and their dog playing in the park. The sculpture is located in the City Park at Swea City, Iowa.

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