WAA Artist - Paul Moore

Paul Moore Gallery

Paul Moore Bio

Paul Moore is a native Oklahoman who has gained national and international recognition with his sculpture. He was born in Oklahoma City in 1957 and is a member of the Creek (Muscogee) Nation, Sweet Potato Clan. His studio, in Norman, Oklahoma, is constantly filled with students and assistants working side by side with Mr. Moore learning the art and techniques of sculpting. Paul Moore is a Fellow and Board Member of the National Sculpture Society and is in constant demand for portrait and monumental commissions. He is also the Artist in Residence and Professor of Figurative Sculpture at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK.

Moore has sculpted more than 100 commissions for numerous municipal, corporate, private and international collections. His work is in the US Capital Collection and the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and in 2008 his portrait of Dr. Thomas Rees, one of the three founding members of the Flying Doctors of East Africa, was unveiled at their main headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Africa. The same year his sculpture “Coming of Age” was placed in the Brookgreen Gardens permanent collection at Pawleys Island, SC.

His numerous awards include the Silver Medal of Honor, the John Cavanaugh Memorial Award, the Margaret Hexter Prize and Leonard J. Meiselman Memorial Award from the National Sculpture Society in New York, NY. In 2007, he was given one of the University of Oklahoma’s top honors, the Otis Sullivant Award for his outstanding contribution to the arts in Oklahoma and at OU. In addition to this prestigious award, he has received two Regents Awards for Outstanding Professional and University Service, five Awards for Outstanding Contribution from the University’s School of Art and Art History and an Award for Excellence in Service.

In 1996, his portrait of the great animator Chuck Jones was accepted in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., along with works by Andy Warhol, Linda McCartney, Marguerite Zorach, and Stanley Meltzoff.

Mr. Moore’s portrait bust of Speaker of the House, Carl Albert was installed into the US Capital Collection / US House of Representatives on March 3rd, 2004 in Statuary Hall, United States Capital, Washington, DC. This was the seventh Speaker of the House bust to be accepted into the US Capital’s collection. Moore became the first Oklahoma sculptor to have his work accepted into this prestigious collection. The same year his monument to the Blackhawk helicopter crews of the 5TH Battalion, 158TH Aviation Regiment, United States Army that lost their lives at the beginning of the Iraq War was installed and unveiled in Giebelstadt, Germany.

One of his largest sculptures, “On the Chisholm Trail,” A Monument to the American Cowboy, was installed and unveiled in 1998. This statue measures 34’ long, 11’ high, and 7’ wide. This massive sculpture took an exhausting five years of work from the conception of the maquette to the unveiling of the bronze at the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, Duncan, Oklahoma.

Mr. Moore left Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1997, where he resided for 12 years and had his private studio, to be the Artist in Residence at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. He was hired to revive and develop the Figurative Sculpture Program, which had been non-existent since 1969. He is the second figurative sculpting instructor in the history of OU.

For the past eight years, Paul Moore has been working on the Oklahoma Centennial Land Run Monument. An estimated six to seven years of work is needed to complete this massive project. This piece of art will span a distance of 365 feet in length by 36 feet in width and over 16 feet in height consisting of 46 life and a half bronze elements. Upon completion, it will be one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures. The City of Oklahoma City, in conjunction with the US Government and the State of Oklahoma commissioned this massive monument commemorating the spirit and determination of the men and women who rode in Oklahoma’s five land runs.

In addition, he is currently working on two 10’ bronze figures. The first one is of General Wayne Downing for the newly renamed General Wayne Downing Airport in Peoria, IL and the second sculpture is of General Hugh Shelton for Fort Bragg, NC.

His portrait and figurative sculptures are represented in prominent institutions nationally and internationally, such as the US Capital Collection / the US House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.; National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.; the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma; Brookgreen Gardens, Pawleys Island, South Carolina, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; 5TH Battalion, 158TH Aviation Regiment, US Army, Giebelstadt, Germany; Flying Doctors of East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya, Africa, San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California; Warner Brothers Studios, Burbank, California; Phillip Morris Co.; the Archdiocese of San Diego, San Diego, California; Citibank; Black Entertainment Television, Washington, D.C; Ball Corp., Muncie, Indiana; Imperial Sugar Co., Sugarland, Texas and the collection of HRH Shabib Taimar Prince of Oman to name a few.