StudioEIS
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StudioEIS (pronounced "Studio Ice") is a sculpture and design studio in Brooklyn, New York, USA. It specializes in "visual storytelling" — the production of figurative sculpture in bronze, stone, and resin for narrative exhibitions at cultural institutions, museums, and corporations worldwide.
History
StudioEIS was founded in 1977 by New York City natives Ivan Schwartz (BFA Boston University College of Fine Arts) and Elliot Schwartz (BFA California Institute of the Arts, MFA Yale University). It pioneered the design and production of innovative figurative sculptures for use as visual storytelling elements within museum settings during the 1970s. When the company was founded, museum displays were "peopled" by store mannequins. With growing resistance to using mass-produced mannequins for exhibitions, and with many museums eliminating staff positions, StudioEIS found a niche for itself in the world of narrative storytelling for museums. With the American Bicentennial at hand and a renewed interest in history, numerous museums were established across the country to address topics as diverse as civil rights, Native American history, and science and technology. This confluence of talent and need created the initial impetus for StudioEIS' work.
Museums large and small began out-sourcing displays via exhibition designers, and called upon StudioEIS to create lifelike sculptures to tell stories about American culture and its political history in vivid ways that put a face to history. StudioEIS' early commissions, for the National Civil Rights Museum and the American Museum of Natural History, were figurative, life-sized, and designed to engage the museum visitor.
With a growing reputation, StudioEIS began to work outside the museum world where innovative object making through visual storytelling was born at StudioEIS. The studio now began to work with architects, industrial and scenic designers, restaurant designers, and hotel/casino designers. Sony, the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nike's flagship stores in Portland and Chicago, The Discovery Channel, and Martha Stewart Living are among its many corporate clients. StudioEIS' sculptures have been on display outside the United States in Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi.
The prominence of the studio grew as it became especially well known for its bronze portrait sculptures and public works, which have included sculptures of many iconic figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Elvis Presley, Albert Einstein, and the forty-two bronze Founding Fathers at the National Constitution Center - which may be the largest bronze sculpture project of its type in American history. Recently StudioEIS' expertise has been called upon for high-profile "forensic" reconstruction projects for George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens and the exhibition "Written in Bone" at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution.
Today StudioEIS' staff of sculptors, painters, costumers, researchers, and model-makers is enhanced by specialists in wax works, metal fabrication, and bronze casting. A project will often include collaboration with scholars in anthropology, costume history, and forensic science. The sculptures of George Washington at ages 19, 45 and 57 that were unveiled at Mount Vernon in 2006 involved state-of-the-art forensic research and computer reconstruction.
Notable works
American history
- Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, PA - 2009. Bronze sculpture of Abraham Lincoln for the new Visitor Center
- James Madison's Montpelier, Montpelier Station, VA - 2009. Bronze sculptures of James Madison and Dolley Madison
- National Trust for Historic Preservation, President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers' Home, Washington, DC - 2009. Bronze sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and his horse
- Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, Charlottesville, VA - 2009. Bronze sculpture of Thomas Jefferson.
- Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI. Bronze sculpture of Lucius Lyon, 19th-century senator from Michigan
- Morristown Green, Morristown, NJ - 2007. Bronze sculptures of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and the Marquis de Lafayette
- George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens, Mount Vernon, VA - 2006. Forensically recreated wax sculptures of George Washington at ages 19, 45, and 57, plus four bronze portrait sculptures of George Washington, Martha Washington and their grandchildren
- National Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA - 2001. Forty-two bronze sculptures of the signers of the U.S. Constitution
- North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC - 2001. Historical bronze portrait sculptures
- Great Platte River Road Memorial Archway Museum, Kearney, NE - 2000. Sixteen historical sculptures and two oxen
- Lowell Heritage State Park, Lowell, MA - 1984. Sixteen 18th-century sculptures depicting life in Lowell, where the Industrial Revolution began in America
Social and cultural history
- The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis, TN - 1991. Twenty-seven sculptures representing the history of the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 through 1968
- Elvis Presley sculpture, Honolulu, HI - 2007. Bronze
- Motown Cafe, Orlando, FL - 1998. Bronze, 56 sculptures of Motown recording artists
- Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA – 1997. Tonally painted historical sculptures for the "Art of the Gold Rush" and sculptures for the exhibition "California: A Place, A People, A Dream"
- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, AL - 1992. Fifteen sculptures depicting moments from the Civil Rights Movement
Anthropology
- Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT - 1997. One hundred eleven naturalistically painted Native American sculptures representing the history of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe
- Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, New Haven, CT - 2002. Six sculptures and cast dwellings on the history of Machu Picchu for the exhibition "Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas"
- Milwaukee Public Museum - Native American Project, Milwaukee, WI - 1999. Thirty-six naturally painted sculptures of Pow-wow dancers
- American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, 1990. Construction of "King Mbunza," a completely articulated fiberglass sculpture for the artifact display in the "African Reflections" exhibit
- Anchorage Historical and Fine Arts Museum, Anchorage, AK - 1985. Thirty-five sculptures representing the indigenous peoples of the region
Presidential libraries
- George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, College Station, TX - 2006. Bronze portrait sculpture of George H.W. Bush
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY - 2003. Bronze portrait sculptures of Franklin Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt
- Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library and Birthplace, Yorba Linda, CA - 1990, 2002. Portrait sculptures of Richard Nixon and Zhou Enlai for a traveling exhibit; ten portrait sculptures of world leaders who influenced President Nixon's life
- Truman Presidential Library and Museum, Kirksville, MO - 2001. Bronze portrait sculptures of Harry S. Truman
- Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Austin, TX - 1991-1994. World War II sculptures
Sports history
- NASCAR Hall of Fame, Charlotte, NC - 2009. Portrait sculptures of the founders of NASCAR
- Yankee Stadium Museum, New York, NY - 2009. Fiberglass sculptures of Don Larsen and Yogi Berra from the "1956 Perfect World Series Game"
- Puerto Rico Museum of Sports, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico - 2002-2009. Portrait sculptures of Crissy Fuentes, Roberto Clemente, Rafael Ramirez, and many other athletes
- Legacy Soccer Foundation, Orlando, FL - 2004. Bronze soccer player to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the World Cup
- National Collegiate Athletic Association Museum, Indianapolis, IN - 1999. Thirty-five athletic figures, including six bronze sculptures of the "flying wedge," for the new headquarters of the NCAA
Military history
- York College, Jamaica, NY - 2009. Sculpture of a Tuskegee Airman for York College
- National Infantry Museum, Fort Benning, GA – June 2009. Fifty sculptures depicting the history of the U.S. Infantry
- National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, VA - 2006. Seventy-four realistically painted sculptures of Marine Corps figures
- US Army Aviation Museum, Fort Rucker, AL - 2005. Bronze sculptures
- Wisconsin Veterans Museum, Madison, WI - 1992. Over sixty sculptures of military figures from the American Revolution to the Vietnam War
Science and technology
- National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC - 2009. "Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th Century Chesapeake." Forensic recreation sculptures.
- Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles, California - 2006. Portrait of Albert Einstein
- Virginia Air and Space Museum Center, Hampton Roads Historical Center, Hampton Roads, Virginia - 1991. Thirty sculptures of historical and contemporary figures
- National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC - 1978-1983. Life-size portrait of Benjamin Franklin with reproduction of the clothing worn to celebrate the ascension of the Montgolfier Balloon in Paris in 1783; three sculptures for "The Golden Age of Flight," a racing tableau
- Cheng Chung Aviation Museum, Taipei, Taiwan - 1980. Two aviation dioramas
Further reading
On the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia
- "NCC Commissions Sculptures of Founders to Depict Defining Moment." Signature (the newsletter of the National Constitution Center), Fall 2001.
- History Is Remade, One Bronzed Gentleman After Another, by Andy Newman. New York Times, July 4, 2001.
- Madame Tussaud These Two Are Not, by Mary Raffalli. New York Times, May 2, 2001.
- "Founding Faces," by Diana Marder. Philadelphia Inquirer May 26, 2002.
- Founding Fathers, Large as Life, by Rita Reif. New York Times, November 24, 2002.
On the forensic reconstruction of George Washington at Mount Vernon
- "Masterworks: A Presidential Cast," by Ruth Katz. New York Home Magazine.
- Coming Soon to Mount Vernon, 3 Georges, by Warren E. Leary. New York Times, February 17, 2006.
- Putting a Face on the First President, by Jeffrey H. Schwartz. Scientific American, February 2006.
General
- Abe, We Hardly Knew Ye This Way, by Jake Mooney. New York Times, June 29, 2008.
- Hiding Behind the Light, in Plain Sight, by Bonnie Schwartz. New York Times, January 13, 2000.
- "Art Flourishes on a Grimy Brooklyn Waterfront," by Kennedy Fraser. New York Times, October 27, 1997.
