University of Alabama alumni Jonathan Lanier and Ringo Lisko are the latest UA sculptors to forge creations for Nucor Steel’s annual Children’s Charity Classic, a fundraiser for Children’s of Alabama hospital. For this year’s auction, they both depicted whimsical scenes from nature that belie the solid, impenetrable medium: a giant, crawling caterpillar and children in a giant lily pad garden.
Lisko and Lanier are part of a tradition of UA sculptors who have given their creativity, skills and experience for a good cause. “Each year,” Lisko said, “UA sculpture students, staff, and faculty create pieces for this event, all made entirely of Nucor steel. To date, we have raised $285,500 for Children’s of Alabama!”
Ringo Lisko (BFA 2020, sculpture) and Jonathan Lanier (BFA 2019, sculpture) work as foundry assistants in the UA art foundry, headed by Professor Craig Wedderspoon. Lisko created the first sculpture of the McMahon-Pleiad Public Art Trail initiative, a collaborative public sculpture project between UA, UAB and UAH. Her public sculpture is also installed in Monnish Park on Fifteenth Street in Tuscaloosa. Lanier’s and Lisko’s works are part of the Literary Capital Sculpture Trail in downtown Monroeville, Ala., and Tuscaloosa’s Monster Takeover. They have both assisted in the foundry’s major projects such as the Alabama State Bicentennial Park and the Tuscaloosa Bicentennial Park.
For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, visit our Degree Programs page.