Jack Cartlidge

Cartlidge Photo

Jack Cartlidge (1924-2006) was an educator and a sculptor best known for his monumental sculptures that can be found in public settings throughout Sarasota.
In 1965 Cartlidge began to develop his copper repoussé technique, using a metal armature covered in beaten and welded copper. The result is relatively lightweight and durable sculpture that resembles bronze.
“Nobody's Listening,” “Earth Mother,” “Guardian” and "Pioneer Family” are at Sarasota's City Hall.
“Titans I” is on Sarasota bay front across from Selby Gardens;
“Band of Angels” is on the campus New College of Florida;
“American Allegory” is next to the Sarasota County Administration Building on Ringling Boulevard

“Nobody's Listening,” took Cartlidge three years to complete and was based on his response to the Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement. He thought it was important that our civic leaders remember what it's like to be invisible. Cartlidge believed in a “voice for all.”




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Head

Copper Head study for "Nobody's Listening"at Sarasota's City Hall

Nodoby's Listening

Face Study for Nobody's Listening at Sarasota's City Hall

Nobodys Listening

 

"Nobody's Listening"at Sarasota's City Hall

 

 

Pioneer Family

"Pioneer Family" at Sarasota's City Hall

Jazz Man

 

Jazz Man

Pioneer Family


Study for "Pioneer Family" at Sarasota's City Hall

Job

 

Job

Abstracte Figural Group

 

Abstracted Figural Group

The Conversation

 

The Conversation

 

Guardian

Study for "Guardian" sculpture at City Hall

Young Michael Archangel Kneeling

 

Young Michael Archangel Kneeling

Titans Study

 

Titans Study

Study for Pioneer Family II

 

Study for Pioneer Family II

Wounded Veteran

 

Wounded Veteran

 

Angel

 

Angel

Biography

Jack Cartlidge (1924-2006) was an educator and a sculptor best known for his monumental sculptures that can be found in a variety of public settings throughout Sarasota. “Job” is at Temple Emmanuel on McIntosh Road; “Titans I” is on the Sarasota bay front across from Selby Gardens;  “Band of Angels”  is on the New College of Florida campus; “American Allegory” is next to the Sarasota County Administration Building on Ringling Boulevard, and Nobody’s Listening,” “Earth Mother,” “Guardian” and “Pioneer Family” are at Sarasota’s City Hall.
“Eroica,” is in front of the BB&T Bank on the corner of Bahia Vista and Tamiami Trail and is one of his most abstract sculptures.

Cartlidge came to Sarasota as a teenager in 1940, when his family moved from Oklahoma.   He volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1942 and was trained as a radio engineer. While he was stationed in Hawaii he took a painting class and began considering art as a career. After the war, he enrolled in art classes taught by Hilton Leech at Ringling School (now Ringling College of Art and Design) and then attended the University of Tampa on the G.I. bill, where he received a bachelor’s degree in art and literature. Later, Cartlidge married Erlaine Gonzalez and went on to the University of Alabama to earn his master’s degree in art.

After college, Cartlidge and his wife settled in Sarasota where they purchased an acre of pasture land and built a small cottage that was also his studio.  A painter first, he began to branch out into new media – copper enamel jewelry and outdoor sculpture that involved a metal armature, cement and stained glass, as well as translucent mosaic tile. He and Erlaine were active with the Sarasota Art Association (now the Sarasota Visual Arts Center), organizing juried exhibitions and themed art shows. During the ’50s and ’60s, the two worked alongside or became friends with Syd Solomon, Frank Rampola, Ben Stahl, George Prout, Eric Von Schmidt, Craig Roubadoux, Frank Colson, Julio de Diego and many other artists, educators and writers.

In 1960, several commissions for artwork grew into a full-time business: Cartlidge Architectural Art, Inc. Architectural firms in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Orlando and Jacksonville commissioned Cartlidge to design and execute large works including stained glass windows for numerous churches, pre-cast concrete bas-reliefs for hotel lobbies and outdoor original sculpture for office and medical buildings. In the early sixties, Cartlidge also began to teach sculpture part-time at New College. He joined the faculty full time in 1968 where he taught sculpture for the next 30 years. He retired in 1998.

In 1965 Cartlidge began to develop his copper repoussé technique, using a metal armature covered in beaten and welded copper. The result is relatively lightweight and durable and resembles bronze. His first public work in this medium was commissioned by architect Jack West for the Sarasota City Hall in 1967.  “Nobody’s Listening,” took Cartlidge three years to complete and was based on his response to the Vietnam War protests and the civil rights movement. He thought it was important that our civic leaders remember what it’s like to be invisible.  Cartlidge believed in a “voice for all.”

After “Nobody’s Listening,” his technique continued to evolve and he sought to master the material so that he could articulate ever more subtle forms and gestures in the large abstracted figures. Inspired by the “battle of the titans” in Milton’s Paradise Lost and the never-ending struggle between good and evil, Cartlidge created his largest copper pieces in the 1970s and 1980s: Titans I (8 ft. by 9 ft.), Titans II (11 ft. by 11 ft.) and Titans III (14 ft. x 11 ft.). In addition to the 12 public monumental pieces, there are other large works in the artist’s estate.  For each of the monumental pieces, Cartlidge created models that he would finish with different “patinas” or colors. These smaller pieces allowed Cartlidge to work out many of the details of the work before realizing it in its full scale.