John Lopez NO PLACE LIKE HOME
ART + DESIGN
Artist John Lopez grew up on a cattle ranch in Lemmon, and despite moving away, he says he always felt an inescapable pull to come back. Though the community is what Lopez affectionately refers to as a “cow town,” it is both his home and a place where he feels called to encourage others artistically.
“I want people in the area to feel like they have an avenue to pursue art and be seen,” he said.
Lopez found his roots after a high school guidance counselor suggested he go to school for commercial art. At Northern State University , he registered for Sculpture 101 .
“I fell in love with sculpture and started pursuing a career in it after that,” he recalled.
After graduation, Lopez worked under Dale Lamphere — the artist behind Dignity of Earth and Sky and Arc of Dreams —and Tony "T.R." Chytka in the Black Hills. “After working for them for a couple years, I broke off on my own and started making little tabletop-sized bronze sculptures and trying to sell them,” he said.
WRITTEN BY GRETA SMITH
PHOTOS BY JOHN & ALANA SNYDER
12 | 605MAGAZINE.COM
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online