A family rooted in art
My great grandfather, Wilhelm Schickel, immigrated to New York City from Wiesbaden, Germany in 1868 after studying architecture at the Beaux Arts in Paris. He became a leading architect in New York and designed over 150 buildings in New York City and throughout the northeast including the landmark Century Building and Saint Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, the famous Mission Church in Boston and Saint Vincent's Archabbey Basilica in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
Great grandfather Wilhelm carried with him a letter from his parents, who, knowing that they would likely never see their son again, exhorted him to live a life built upon faith, grounded in truth and characterized by respect for himself and for others. This letter has been re-read aloud at important family occasions and remains as a source for my own life and my artistic vision.
Wilhelm's creativity was transmitted to my grandfather, Norbert Schickel, an engineer who designed and built the early Schickel motorcycle which I have adopted as a logo image. Norbert Schickel also built the first reinforced concrete apartment building in America in the 1940's, the Fairview Manor in Ithaca, New York.
My grandfather on my mother's side, Henry Cockrell, crafted fine furniture in East Greenwich, Rhode Island for many years. His eye for the harmony and symmetry found in the best furniture of the past and his patience in honing the artisan skills to craft in wood a unity of art and utility continue to be an inspiration to me.
My uncle, also named William Schickel , has achieved considerable renown as a painter, sculptor, architectural designer, furniture designer, and stained-glass artist using liturgical themes to project a healing vision of faith and purpose in this fractured age. Mr. Deal Hudson of Crisis Magazine said, "History will view William Schickel as one of the greatest and most prolific American artists of the second half of this [20th] century."
My father, Norbert Schickel, Jr., deeply influenced by the Catholic Worker movement and by two inheritors of the tradition of Saint Thomas, Jacques Maritain and Yves Simon, sought to build the abundant life in and on the land of Dryden, New York where he farmed and raised his large family in the warm embrace of the good, the true and the beautiful. Maritain's Art and Scholasticism stood with Aquinas' Summa in our library amidst the sculpture, the portraits, the tapestry and of course the children, each unique and valuable. My father was a patron of the arts and a real estate developer of integrity and vision whose projects, Geneva on the Lake, Fairview Heights (designed by Marcel Breuer) and Eastwood Commons were undertaken for their inherent fitness to their place, time and intended use. From my mother, Marion, I learned the arts of flower and table arrangment, the virtue of trusting in people and the skill of attending to every detail while seeing each part within the whole.
In my own generation the artistic tradition continues. My older brother, Bill, preceded me in studying art at Boston University. My sister Catherine teaches art. Two of my brothers, Thomas and Sarto, are architects; while another brother, Bruno, is a builder and home designer. Whether directly engaged in making art or not, each of my siblings shares an openness to beauty and an appreciation for its transformative power.
My own background and formation
My formal studies were in the School of Fine Arts at Boston University, where I earned a BFA in sculpture. I was fortunate to have an exceptional teacher in Isabel MacIlvaine. I pursued a career in the fine arts of sculpture and painting in Brookfield, Vermont and Portland, Maine during the eighties and nineties, showing in a number of New England galleries and in Colorado. More recently I worked for three years as assistant designer to Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs and subsequently for three more years as a ceramic designer for the MacKenzie-Childs company under different ownership. A desire to develop a more personal aesthetic led me to start my own company.
