Public Sculpture
Sculptors from the Bradford district have made a significant contribution to public sculpture over the last hundred years. Here are some of them, past and present. Past sculptors are shown in chronological order of birth:
Alex Smith (1863 -1953)
Alex Smith made an important contribution to the architectural sculpture of Keighley, his adopted town. He was born in Nottingham, but moved to Keighley in 1889 to work as a tutor of sculpture and carving at Keighley School of Art. He joined forces with a local craftsman, Antony Boothman, to establish Mssrs Smith and Boothman, architectural sculptures, and worked on buildings, war memorials, cinemas, pubs and other buildings throughout the district, including the Keighley Library entrance, the Arcade on North Street and at Cartwright Hall, Bradford. He had a workshop on Dalston Lane and worked in stone, marble, alabaster, cement and wood.
Read more about the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/smith-alex/
Adam Broadbent (1868-1919)
Adam Broadbent was brn in Shipley, the son of a stone mason. He moved to London in the mid 1890s to study at the South London Technical Art School in Lambeth School of Art for two years. He became a successful figure and animal sculptor, and by 1912 had gained a reputation as one of the best sculptors of his generation.
His work was exhibited on 18 occasions, including at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society (1899), Art Workers Guild (1905) and Royal Academy. He worked on statues on the facade of the V & A Museum, in London (example shown below). 
More information on the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/broadbent-abraham/
Ernest George Gillick (1874 – 1951)
Ernest Gillick was born in Bradford, but moved to Nottingham when he was 11 and became apprenticed to a lace designer. However, his aptitude for drawing led him to study art, first at Nottingham School of Art, later at the Royal College of Art in London, where he was tutored by the French sculptor, Edouard Lanteri, who helped Ernest obtain a travelling scholarship in 1902 to Italy and Paris.
On his return to England he set up a studio in London and he gained many commissions during the 1920s and 30s, including war memorial sculptures in Glasgow and in France. Other important work included the figures of J.W.M. Turner and Richard Cosway on the Victoria & Albert Museum in London; the Sir George Frampton memorial in St. Paul’s Cathedral crypt; and the memorial fountain to the novelist Ouida (Marie Louise de la Ramée) at Bury St. Edmunds. In 1935 he was awarded the Royal Society of British Sculptors’ medal for his statue, ‘Ex Tenebris Lux’, now on display at the Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand (see image below).
He also designed commemorative medals for the Royal Mint, Royal Academy, Inner Temple, Red Cross, LMS Railways, and Lord Mayor of London. He was elected an Associate Member of the RA in 1935. In the same year he was elected Master of the Art Workers’ Guild, and in 1938 elected a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.
More information on the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/gillick-ernest-george/
Joseph Hermon Cawthra (1886–1971)
Joseph Hermon Cawthra was born in Shipley. He started work as an apprentice wood carver, then went on to study at the Leeds College of Art, and from there won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art (1909-11) and Royal Academy School (1912-16). He worked as an assistant to the sculptor, Paul Montford, for a while, but in 1919 began to work independently. 
Joseph’s numerous public works include the Burns Statue at Dumfries cemetery; a group of four figures at Leeds Civic Hall; Manchester Town Hall extension; bust of King George V in Mombassa, East Africa; and the statue of Britannia, Piccadilly Circus, London. However, Cawthra considered the airman on the war memorial at Bootle, Lancashire as one of his best works (image above). More information about the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/cawthra-joseph-hermon/
Frank Roper (1914 – 2000)
Frank Roper was born in Haworth, where his grandfather had a stone-carving shop. Roper studied art at Keighley School of Art during the early 1930s, then continued his studies at the Royal College of Art. He specialised in religious sculpture pieces and during the 1960s worked closely with the architect George Pace, and artist, John Piper, on a series of commissions for the bombed Llandaff Cathedral. Roper’s bronze panels of Welsh flowers mounted on the medieval reredos of the lady chapel of 1964, is regarded as one of his best works. He designed the Crucifixion at Peterborough Cathedral, shown below, in 1974. 
He was an elected member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and in 1990 was awarded an OBE. More information about the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/roper-frank/
Geoffrey Greetham (1934-1992)
Geoffrey Greetham was born in Keighley and studied at Keighley School of Art and Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts in the late 1950s. Between the years 1962-65 he was an assistant to Henry Moore and 1965-67 and assisted Moore in 1965 with the Reclining Figure sculpture at the Lincoln Center, USA, shown below. 
Greetham was awarded a Sculpture Fellowship at Coventry College of Art (1965-7) and taught art at the Winchester School of Art in the latter stage of his career. More information about the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/greetham-geoffrey/
Contemporary Sculptors
Sam Shendi, Morwenna Catt, Juliet & Jamie Gutch, and Andy Shaw are examples of Bradford district sculptors who bring a contemporary twist to public sculpture today.
Sam Shendi
Egyptian-born sculptor, Sam Shendi, graduated from Helwen University of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1997 after having specialized in monumental and architectural sculpture. He moved to the UK in 2000 and has made his home near Keighley and has a kitchen design company in Silsden. He is also a professional sculptor and was the winner of the First@108 Public Art RBS Award in 2013 for his colourful sculpture, ‘Evolution’. Public sculptures of his work can be found at Steeton and at Silsden, the latter commemorating the history of nail making in the town (see image below). 
Cartwright Hall featured his solo work in the ‘Only Human’ exhibition 2014/2015 both inside and outside the gallery. The pyramid and geometrical shapes of Ancient Egyptian construction and architecture influenced his work, combined with the use often bright, vivid colours, particularly yellow and reds. He works predominantly with metal, particularly aluminium and steel. 
Read more about the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/shendi-sam/
Morwenna Catt
Morwenna Catt is a multi-media artist, and her work includes 3D, mural and public installation art. Her work has been commissioned in the Bradford area, notably the public ‘Shipley Shopper’ sheep sculpture in Shipley Town Centre, 2008 (see below) and the commission by Bradford Council to commemorate the Queens Jubilee in 2012 leading to ‘The Threads that Bind Us’, a large embroidered textile hanging by Morwenna Catt and Lucas Stephens, unveiled October 2013, in the Banqueting Hall at Bradford City Hall. 
Read more about the artist at https://www.notjusthockney.info/catt-morwena/
Juliet & Jamie Gutch
Juliet and Jamie Gutch are a husband and wife artistic partnership who live in Ilkley and design and make mobile sculptures, large and small, using a range of material, including wood andmetal. Their large sculptures have been commissioned by commercial organisations, including, John Lewis, BP, Canary Wharf, London and for hospitals in Northumbria, Gloucester, Milton Keynes, Middlesex and the London area. (see example below). 
Read more about the artists at https://www.notjusthockney.info/gutch-juliet-jamie/
Andy Shaw
Andy Shaw is an Bradford based artist who uses reclaimed metal to make sculptures, large and small. His public installation work has included a snake installation for the Beat-Herder festival in the Ribble Valley (see images below). Read more about the artist’s work at https://www.notjusthockney.info/shaw-andy/ 