UNO Documentary: “Sculpting a Vision, An Interview with Thomas R. Morrison”

Who: Thomas R. Morrison, sculptor 

 

Film by: UNO student and documentarian Jason Mariande 

 

 

 

Inspiring people tend to have a halo, it’s strange. You can’t always see it, but you can sense it. It makes me what to sculpt people, so a lot of my sculptures are about inspiring people and inspiring ideas. Those are the things you want to preserve for all time. A memory of what made your life special. 

 

I have a permanent free public exhibit of my artwork at the St. Vincent’s Guest House, which is a beautiful property. It is a real privilege to showcase my work in the lobby where anyone can come in and enjoy it whenever they want. 

 

Like most artists, I think I started destroying the carpet in the family/living room around the age of seven or eight. I signal that as the beginning of my art career. When I was 21 and in art school, my mom tipped me off to a film that was shooting in town. I went to their production office, and before they could kick me out, I memorized the address on the wall for the art department. 

 

The production designer had just gotten the model for the sculpture they needed for the film. It was so terrible that they were afraid to show it to her. I went home and I made that model. I came in the next day with it, and she was so impressed that she hired me on-the-spot. That team was so happy with the results that they invited me to Los Angeles to work in the film industry, and that’s exactly what I did a few months later. I spent five years working in L.A. with the best sculptors in the country. 

 

The great thing about the entertainment industry is that it gives you the opportunity to learn everything you need to know about bringing your vision into reality. 

 

I felt like it was then time to move on, so I packed up everything (right before Christmas), and by New Years Eve I was on the road and on my way to New Orleans. I was just going to pass through. My mother was married here, and she sent me these wonderful pictures of her honeymoon at Maywood Plantation, and I knew I had to see this place. I couldn’t believe that a place as beautiful as New Orleans was right here in the America. 

 

By the third day, I had a job doing the same kind of work I was doing in L.A. but as head sculptor in Kern Studios plus an apartment, and I was in New Orleans. All set up. It’s bizarre that something could happen so quickly and randomly. 

 

For the next five or six years I worked with Kern Studios. We did the Harley Davidson motorcycle on the Vegas strip, the double dragons ride for Universal Studios, Harrah’s projects, we made a tribute to the River God and a couple of big floats for inside the casino. Plus, all kinds of parade projects. I can’t even think of all the different projects we’ve done. I’ve done 100s of sculpture, and I think I’ve forgotten about more sculpture projects that most people have done in their lifetime. 

 

While in New Orleans, I rented three or four different apartments from Greg Lewis, the grandson of Sinclair Lewis. Greg had come to me in 1997 and wanted me to sculpt a gargoyle for his house. I molded them, and now we’ve probably made 20 of them. They’re populating in the city–on the synagogue on Jackson Street, some people have them on their homes, there’s one on the clocktower here, and Greg has one on his chimney.  

 

At that point, after 10 years of learning the techniques of sculpture, I was ready to explore design. I wanted to see what I had to say and how I could move people. The Krewe of Hermes gave me the opportunity to do that, and it worked like a charm. Over the next few years, the Krewe of Hermes won best parade and best night parade awards over and over again. As far as I know, it’s the most award-winning parade in Mardi Gras history. 

 

That’s one of the nice things about creating these huge, monumental pieces for Carnival. They stick around. They’re valued, and people get to enjoy them. And millions of people get to see them for free. You don’t have to buy a ticket for Mardi Gras. Just show up. 

 

I used to love standing in the parade line alongside Hermes. I got hear what people were actually thinking and saying while the parade went by. I relish those moments. It’s unvarnished truth. I want the criticism. I want to know what I didn’t do right. I can’t learn from what I did right; I can only learn from what I’ve done wrong. 

 

Walking into Miette is like walking inside of Mardi Gras. Angie Jackson is the owner of Miette. She envisioned and created it, and she brought us all together to make it an incredible, local New Orleans art fiesta. Miette is a true new Orleans treasure, and I’m glad to be apart of it. 

 

When you see Rodin’s work or Bernini, or Michelangelo, you feel your humanity at a deeper level than you do in your everyday life. That is a legacy worth living and dying for. I’ve dedicated my life to that, and I hope that one day I’ll make something worthy of that tradition. One piece that makes people light up inside, makes them feel like they’re not alone, makes them feel like they’re experience in life is part of a family.