Art Chowder March | April 2018, Issue 14 | Page 21

The early 2000s also had Adamson
designing and building bronze awards
in his foundry. He crafted the Reno Film
Festival and George Foster Peabody
awards. For the Reno Film Festival, he
molded clay on the airplane.
His inspiration was based on a friend of
his parents, who had chalked the design
of a log-wood peeler on his basement floor
and sold it to the lumber mill.
Those surfing the web contacted
Adamson for large projects. In July
1997, Adamson was commissioned to
create a life-sized man with a guitar
from The Eagles’ song “Take it Easy.”
The sculpture, placed at the corner of
Kinsey and Second in Winslow, AZ,
stands 6’2”, is 250 pounds and took
two years to complete. The attraction
to that sculpture piqued the interest
of Filipstad, Sweden, where the town
leaders commissioned Adamson to
produce a life-sized guitar player as a
gift to the king of Sweden and promote
their annual music events.
Using this family friend as inspiration,
the award concept featured a bald-headed
man wearing a bowtie. Rumors surfaced
that comedian and director Mel Brooks
thought the image resembled him.
Adamson wrote a letter to clear
up the matter without receiving
a response. Award-holders
of Adamson’s bronze design
include actor Rod Steiger (On
the Waterfront), actor Tony
Curtis (Some Like
it Hot), actor
Dean Stockwell
(Quantum Leap)
and casting director Ellie
Kanner (Friends/
Sex and the
City). Backstage,
Adamson met
George Sidney and
Pat Hitchcock.
March | April 2018
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