Ed Hamilton
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Ed Hamilton (born February 12, 1947) is an American sculptor living in Louisville, Kentucky. Hamilton specializes in public art. His most famous work is "The Spirit of Freedom," a memorial to black Civil War veterans that stands in the Shaw neighborhood near Howard University in Washington, D.C. Hamilton has also done monuments dedicated to Booker T. Washington, Joe Louis, and the slaves who revolted on the Amistad. In 2006, Hamilton self-published an autobiography, The Birth of an Artist, in which he talked about his work and the creative process. While working on the book, Hamilton, at age 57, discovered that he was adopted.
Edward Hamilton Jr. was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised by Edward “Hamp” and Amy Hamilton. Ed Sr. had just an 8th grade education, but became a successful tailor. He and Amy, who was a barber, practiced their trades under the same roof at Sixth and Walnut St. (now Muhammad Ali Blvd.) in Louisville, Kentucky.
Hamilton graduated from Shawnee High School in 1965, then he received a scholarship to Louisville’s Art Center, where he studied sculpture and painting. A chance meeting with Barney Bright, the sculptor responsible for the “Louisville Clock” and the “River Horse” statue, changed Hamilton's life. Bright made Hamilton his assistant, giving him a place to work and the opportunity to watch a master sculptor. At that same time, a teacher at the Art Center advised Hamilton to seek out the group of African American artists who comprised the Louisville Art Workshop. That group was found by abstract painter Sam Gilliam and Robert Douglass, another painter who also became head of the University of Louisville's Pan African Studies Program. Another member of the Louisville Art Workshop was avante-garde painter Bob Thompson, although he had already relocated to New York City by the time Hamilton came along.
Hamilton rarely receives personal commissions, he usually competes with other artists by presenting a design and a written proposal detailing the size and cost of the work. After he creates a wet clay version of his statue, Hamilton sends it to a foundry, where a mold is cast and filled in bronze. He said he recycles the clay from each commission, so the next one will retain something from the spirit of his previous works.
Source: 1998 Louisville Defender article by Michael L. Jones
