William (Bill) Wolfe is a native Hoosier and nationally renowned sculptor whose art career spans painting, multimedia, murals, design, and especially bronze sculpture. Around a decade ago, Bill left his advertising agency to focus on this sculpting and art career. Upon review of his body of work, Bill specialty quickly reveals itself, portraiture-style sculptures that capture the spirit of historical and public figures. These frequently life-size or larger-than-life-size bronze sculptures embody more than realism, they often serve as an embodiment of the subjects’ fundamental nature. Palpable examples of this exist in Bill’s interpretation of Orville Wrights’ inventive and imaginative nature, the unflappable determination of Hall of Fame baseball player Max Carey, and in the inexhaustible fortitude of Abraham Lincoln.
While Bill has recently dedicated several veterans’ monuments that portray soldiers’ care and concern for others, his achievements in painting are not to be overlooked. Similar to his sculptures, his artwork tends to capture a quite, is not introspective, moment of time- however brief. These paintings bring a Midwestern sensibility and offer a snapshot of reprieve from tumult. Both his sculptures and paintings leave a sublime footprint that echoes of wisdom, reverence, and subtle hope that is becoming an increasingly important legacy.
This past May, Bill Wolfe was honored by Arts Illiana, his peers, and the Wabash Valley with a 2009 Bravo Award for Professional Artist. Wolfe’s 2009-2010 season is an extraordinarily busy one, with his restoration of the Gilbert Wilson Murals at the ISU School of Education, a bronze monument in Virginia, a life-size bronze Abraham Lincoln in honor of the 200th birthday of the former president in Illinois on the Clark County Courthouse lawn in Marshall, new murals at the Vigo County Court House, three new statues in Indianapolis, and the selected artist for the upcoming Max Ehrmann sculpture in downtown Terre Haute.