Summary |
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| Creator: | Mack, Rodger. |
| Title: | Rodger Mack Papers |
| Dates: | 1968-2002 |
| Size: | 1 box (.25 linear foot) |
| Abstract: | The Rodger Mack Papers contains materials relating to Mack's career as a professor and artist at Syracuse University. |
| Language: | English |
| Repository: |
University Archives, Special Collections Research Center Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Ave., Suite 600 Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center/university-archives |
Biography
Rodger Mack was born on November 8, 1938 in Barberton, Ohio. He enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art as an industrial design student, and he was intent on using what he learned in college to advance in a career of car design. Yet after a summer job at General Motors, where Mack realized that sculptors did not actually get to design the cars, just make three-dimensional models based on designs produced by someone else, he decided that perhaps car design was not for him. Mack received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Arts in 1961, and his Master of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in sculpture from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1963. After graduating with his master’s degree, Mack received a Fulbright Scholarship. This allowed him to travel to Florence between 1963 and 1964 to further his art education. While in Florence, Mack learned multiple casting techniques and created sixteen cast-bronze sculptures at the Bruno Bearzi Foundry.
Shortly after Mack’s return from Florence, the governor of Arkansas asked him to help found the Arkansas Art Center, which offered a BFA degree program. Mack taught drawing, three-dimensional design, and ceramics, and also constructed a foundry with the help of students. After four years, however, the BFA program was terminated, and he elected to move on to other endeavors.
In 1968 Syracuse University hired Mack as a sculpture professor. He received tenure in 1971, just a few short years after he began teaching, and between 1982 and 1991 Mack served as the director of the University’s School of Art and Design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. During this time Mack played an integral role in the creation of the Comstock Art Facility, which provided studio space for all sculpture students to work under a single roof, along with art students working in other media. He also helped to enhance the sculpture program’s enrollment size and reputation. Many viewed Mack as one of the most important bronze sculptors in the country, and it was his presence at Syracuse University that drew many students to the program. After stepping down from his position as the director of the School of Art, Mack returned to teaching full-time. Syracuse University officially recognized his excellence as a professor multiple times. In 1991 Mack received the Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement, and in 1999 he received an Outstanding Faculty Award from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Mack became famous for his large-scale bronze and steel sculptures, described by one newspaper reporter as “graceful, winding, and abstract.” The artist drew inspiration for his sculptures from his every day experiences, finding creative expression in anything from the shape of a shadow on the surface of an object to musical compositions. Throughout his lifetime Mack exhibited his work nationally and internationally, and his sculptures were bought by many museums, including the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, New York. He had a large number of solo exhibitions in New York City, many held at the Krasner Gallery.
Mack’s last large public commission was permanently installed at the New York State Fair Grounds in July 2002. Titled Missing in Action, it is a monolithic bronze sculpture memorializing lost soldiers. The artist passed away on September 16, 2002, in Syracuse.
Scope and Content Note
The Rodger Mack Papers contains correspondence, newspaper clippings, memorial service information, and a collection of publicity materials for many of Mack's exhibitions including announcements, fliers, posters, and programs.
Restrictions
Access Restrictions
Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.
Use Restrictions
Written permission must be obtained from University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries and all relevant rights holders
before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this
collection.
Related Material
In addition to these papers, the Syracuse University Archives holds a clippings file and a portrait file on Rodger Mack. The SU Art Galleries have many sculptures by Rodger Mack in their collection. You may visit their website for additional details.
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Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Rodger Mack Papers,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Acquisition Information
The Roger Mack Papers were transferred to the Archives from the College of Visual and Performing Arts in 2011.
Processing Information
The materials have been rehoused in acid-free folders and box.
Finding Aid Information
Created by: Steffi Chappell
Date: 2014
Revision history: