Remarks at the Dedication : Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta

Thank you all for joining us today; it’s wonderful to be back in my hometown. I am here to say a few words on behalf of the family of the sculptor, William J. Thompson. Many of you know me as Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta, or, more simply, number 4. While this moniker may conjure up images of the British secret service or Austin Powers, it is shorthand, for those who know the Thompsons, of my position in a rowdy band of siblings under the watchful but adoring eyes of parents Claire E. and William J. Thompson. 

Growing up in Athens with a father who was both a sculptor and professor of art was both a challenge and a privilege. With respect to the former, I remember specifically in grade school when I asked my friend why she wouldn’t come back to my house to play, she answered, “my mama said there were too many naked ladies on ya’lls walls”. But mostly, growing up surrounded by sculpture was an undeniable privilege, a portal to another world. My siblings and I observed our father reflecting on classic narratives, the story of Genesis and biblical references were but two such constant leitmotifs, and we witnessed these ideas take shape in a three-dimensional language. That language could be figurative or abstract. The “naked ladies” were not too difficult to decipher. The abstracts, in our reality, invariably all became angels.

This angel before us, however, is no mere angel; it is an Archangel, sculpted in 1967. I think Dad really wanted to signify that this sculpture was special for him, something of which he was enormously proud. Originally executed in aluminum and fiberglass, he submitted it to the Southern Sculpture Exhibit competition in Ashville, North Carolina in that same year. It won first prize. It was also included in the Smithsonian National Traveling Exhibit, 1969-70. We deem it to be one of his most outstanding sculptures, along with William J. Thompson’s Andersonville Memorial sculpture, a nine-foot bronze sculpture that stands on the grounds of a prisoner of war camp, in Andersonville National Park. In 2022, after the death of our beloved mother, the family decided to have Archangel, 1967 recast in bronze and donate it to the Georgia Museum of Art, where it holds pride of place both in front of the museum and overlooking the UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. This is the institution to which our father dedicated a great part of his life, shepherding hundreds of students in his twenty-five years of teaching and earning the honorary title of Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 1989.

There are many to whom we must express our gratitude for bringing to fruition this herculean task but especially we would like to recognize four people. First, Mr. Jack Ward, whose foundry and whose relationship to Dad and his sculptures dates back decades. Mr. Ward was the only person who cast Bill Thompson’s sculptures throughout the years and Mr. Ward’s dedication to this project ensures the integrity and the beauty of the original work. Thank you, Jack! Second, a special debt of gratitude goes to Annelies Mondi, the former Deputy Director of the GMOA. Our relationship, she reminded me, dates back to when we were both freshman at UGA. I moved away and years passed until we reconnected again when Mom invited Annelies to come and visit her at home and view the Thompson collection. I have no doubt that due to Annelies’s sensitivity towards and appreciation of Dad’s work many of those pieces are now in the permanent collection of GMOA. Annelies, your unfailing commitment to this project, even stretching into postretirement must be recognized. We are deeply grateful.

Enormous appreciation from the family also goes to the director of GMOA, Dr. William Underwood Eiland, who knew and valued Mom and Dad in equal measure. Through Eiland’s charm, steadfast support, and unfailing dedication to both William J. Thompson and his art over the years, the GMOA now has one of the most significant holdings of Thompson’s sculptures, works on paper and archival materials. But most significant has been Eiland’s commitment to this project, ensuring its presence today as part of his own legacy to this campus. The Thompson family is extremely proud to see Archangel here at the museum overlooking the “hills of God” and interacting with Beverly Pepper’s sculpture, Ascension. Thank you, Bill.

And finally, our last debt of gratitude is to another renowned sculptor who oversaw this behemoth of a project from the beginning and saw it to its completion; our brother, Joe Thompson, or, more simply, number 5. He will say a few words about the statue itself. Thank you, Joe.

Links:

Georgia Museum of Art

University of Georgia

Brenau University Galleries

Remarks at the Dedication : Joe Thompson

I’m Joe Thompson and I’m honored to be here to say a few words about the work of art we’re dedicating today. I’m the third son of Wm. J Thompson, I’m a sculptor, and I had the great honor of working closely with the foundryman, Jack Ward, on the project to cast in bronze “Archangel 1967”. Jack was a friend and long-time collaborator with my dad, and the sculpture would not have come about had it not been for his technical expertise, artistic knowledge, and his sheer determination, and so we are all grateful for his talents and hard work.

The body of work created by William J. Thompson was large and varied, and included small and monumental sculptures in various media, editions of prints, drawings, and other works on paper. This sculpture, however, is particularly important, because it is so clearly the nexus of William J. Thompson’s spiritual life and his remarkable creative capacity. In my way of thinking, it is the best example of his truly improvisational abilities, carried out on a large and ambitious scale.

In order to create a bit of context about who the artist was, there are a few things I’d like to convey. First, it’s impossible to discuss the work of Bill Thompson without the important recognition of his faith. He was a man who believed in God as a loving and creative entity, and one to which we are all bound through our daily human experience. His faith guided him in every interaction, whether he was teaching a drawing class, working in his studio or living among his family and friends. So many of us were drawn to him because there was something genuine, kind, and compassionate in his demeanor. In my thirty-year teaching career, I encountered generations of his former students who commented on his ability to teach, not only drawing and sculpture, but also to present a world view which channeled his sense of hope and peace in a turbulent world. He was, in the best sense of the word, grounded in his faith.

His artistic practice was similarly underpinned. He was an accomplished figurative artist, which was an important and ongoing exploration throughout his career. But he was also fearless in his exploration of abstraction, gesture and the emotive possibilities of 20th century sculptural form. I say fearless because his creative path was not informed by the fashionable trends of the artworld at that time. Bill Thompson was instead, asking existential questions through the subject-matter of angels, serpents, and the nature of good and evil. His iconography over the years became very specific, and to a great extent, the Garden of Eden, angels and archangels all became his signature.

Today we dedicate “Archangel 1967”. It was originally made of cast aluminum, and further fabricated with fiberglass and other materials. As Elizabeth has outlined, it was critically well received in 1967, and was I think, a breakthrough for the artist and a sculpture in which he was particularly proud. For many years, the work was installed at our parent’s home, and as a family, we made the decision to offer it the The Georgia Museum of Art as a bronze.  We felt this appropriate because this sculpture conveys in a powerful way, the artist’s exuberant humanity, his love for creative process and a deep commitment to the structure over which he organized his life, which was his faith. The work occupies and holds a tremendous amount of visual space here on the UGA campus, due to its formal geometry and complexity, and perhaps because it is such a complement to the surrounding architectural space. I think however, that it holds an even greater psychic and emotional space, including, and in some way transcending the notion of archangel, offering the possibility of something beyond, and something which is powerfully prescient and connected to our lived and changing experience. Although the sculpture was originally made in 1967 and recast in bronze in 2022, it continues to be an elegant expression of the human condition. I believe this is just as William J. Thompson would have liked to have it.

Please join us at

The Georgia Museum of Art

to celebrate the gift of William J. Thompson’s sculpture “Archangel” (from his family)

With remarks by Museum Director William Underwood Eiland

Thursday, February 23
at 4:00 pm