J. Brett Grill
1997 RHS graduate
Brett Grill studied figurative sculpture at the University of Michigan following his 1997 graduation from Rockford High School. There he earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2001. He continued his education at the New York Academy of Art, earning his master of fine arts degree in 2003.
Brett has been awarded artist residencies in France and Norway. He has lectured on his own work throughout the Midwest, and his work has been exhibited nationally including venues in Chicago and New York. He is represented in private collections all over the nation. He has received numerous figurative sculpture commissions, including the portrait sculpture of Rev. Duncan Littlefair for Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids.
Most notably, in 2008, after a national search, Brett was awarded the President Gerald R. Ford Memorial Sculpture commission. Steven Ford, son of President Ford, stated that Brett “…captured the essence of dad.” Brett’s work will be installed in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C., as part of the National Statuary Collection.
Currently Brett is an assistant professor of art at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., where he teaches drawing and painting while continuing his own artistic endeavors.
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