Tim Marshall Curtis

Tim Marshall Curtis is a world-renowned sculptor, sailor, and musician. When not working in his studios he can be found fishing, and swimming year round out on the beautiful waters surrounding his island home of Key West. 

Education: B.F.A, School of the Art Instistue of Chicago, (1989)

M.F.A. Sculpture, Pietrasanta School of Marble Carving, Italy (1995)

U.S.C.G. Merchant Marine Licensed Captain, Key West, (1999)

Employment: Co-Founder and Director of Project Lighthouse: an art-based andfederally funded non-profit program of the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter; dedicated toserving the runaway and homeless youth of Monroe County, Florida. (2004 –2009) Duties included fundraising, grant writing, public relations, street outreach, operations ofthe drop in center, $110k/year annual budget preparation and management.

Awards: “People’s Choice” for the “Lightning Bolt” sculpture from the “MangoMadness” exhibit at the Studios of Key West. (2020)“Best of Show” for the “Key Heron” sculpture from the “Summer Smackdown” exhibit atthe Key West Theater (2017)“Best of Show” for the “Viking” sculpture from the “Sculpture Key West” exhibit at FortZachary Taylor state park in Key West (2003)“Artistic Excellence in the Arts” from the Anne McKee Artists Fund;$1,000 each year (2001, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2103)“Honorable Mention” for the “Dark Spirit” sculpture from the “New Works” exhibit at theCollege of Lake County, Illinois (1995)

Recent Exhibits: “Art in the Garden” at the Key West Botanical Gardens, (2020)“Shipwreck Treasures of the Florida Keys” gallery artist, 617 Duval St. (2019-2020) “Members Exhibit” at the Studios of Key West (2011-2020)“Members Exhibit” of the Monroe County Council of the Arts, Key West (2016-2020)“Sedgwick Sculpture Studio” retrospective at the Kohler Museum, Chicago, (2018)

Authors page text

I was a late bloomer artistically. I was fairly creative as a youth and I always had a passion for music, but I didn’t really start to find myself creatively until I began my apprenticeship at the Sedgewick Sculpture Studio. Working with modern masters on a daily basis for those early years had a tremendous impact on my young mind. Nothing was impossible and I honestly believed that if I made great art, I would have a very bright future. It all came true. As I look back upon my history, I find several integral parts of my identity that have run through the course of my life: sailing, motorcycles, music, and sculpture.

I did a lot of sailing back in the day and won a lot of races, up and down both sides of Lake Michigan. Sailing led me to Key West, which eventually became my permanent home. I’ve only owned a few motorcycles in my time, but I’ve loved every single one of them. I didn’t even buy my first serious guitar until I was in my mid-twenties, but the soundtrack to my life has always been driven by heavy metal.

Sculpture is the difference maker. It is what separates me from everyone else. It’s the one thing that I can do where I can reach the highest level of expression without fear of falling. I feel that I am at my best when I am fully engaged in a difficult sculpture project. Whether it’s an unorthodox use of a tool or the development of new techniques, I thoroughly enjoy the problem-solving aspect of figuring out how to make things that haven’t been made before.

Maybe one day I won’t even have to make the stuff with my own hands anymore. Remember, there are no limits to the imagination. All I will have to do is visualize the idea and ‘Poof’ there it will be. Like magic.

Tim Marshall Curtis

Artist statement text

I like to work in metal and marble. I find the materials architecturally interesting. When I am working on small sculptures with my hands; I am actually thinking big in my mind. I visualize them large scale. I’m always contemplating the best dimensions for any individual piece as I shape them and that’s important because there is always a sweet spot. Just as tempo is important to a song, finding the sweet spot for dimensions in full scale is the same. And not just from the nuts and bolts perspective of construction materials and techniques but also from the conceptual side of subject, and how it and the object itself interacts to it’s environment. It’s best when things work together organically. I also use architectural materials for their durability. That means ‘storm proof’ in south Florida. I love aluminum for it’s high strength to weight ratio because it allows you to do a lot of cool things that you can’t do with heavier metals; but bronze and stainless steel are forever, and bronze you can patina. Marble is the most seductive and the most permanent. It lends itself to the human figure remarkably well and the process of carving art is a purely human endeavor. I call my style ‘Pyrite’ because in geological terms pyrite is the fusion of metal and stone in the earth and those are precisely the elements that I work with.