By Kate Lohnes

Call it fate, or happenstance or just a lucky coincidence.

However you describe it, something clicked for UA native and current resident Alan Hamwi when, at 12 years old, his eyes fell upon the classic art and sculpture of Europe on a family vacation. He drank in the classic forms, the graceful lines of famous figures, and knew his life would never be the same.

Quite simply, Hamwi fell in love with art. Four decades later, their love affair has yet to wane.

At age 52, Hamwi is an accomplished sculptor. His work is enjoyed by the public and by private collectors around the country, and it also graces several Central Ohio landmarks. At the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and the new Huntington Park baseball field, visitors touch, sit on and crawl over Hamwi’s creations, from a to-scale statue of Colo the gorilla to a supersized baseball, bat and glove.

While a sports-themed sculpture differs greatly in style from Renaissance artistry, Hamwi credits his first trip across the Atlantic – specifically, his visit to Italy – as the spark that lit the flame.

“My mother was an art history major and one of the original docents at the Columbus Museum of Art,” he says. “She took me on that trip to Europe, and I was exposed to sculptures all over Florence. (I saw) Perseus (by Benvenuto Cellini), and also (Michelangelo’s) David, of course. It was pretty amazing.”

Hamwi made sculpture his first priority in school. He attended Antioch University in Yellow Springs, where he majored in sculpture. He continued his artistic education at various institutions, including the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, Calif., the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros, Greece, Wright State University in Dayton, Columbus College of Art and Design and The Ohio State University.

As he continued to study and practice, Hamwi says financial success wasn’t always guaranteed as an artist. To provide for his family – he has a son, 29-year-old Kristopher, and a daughter, 23-year-old Elizabeth – he worked full time as a firefighter, first for the City of Huber Heights near Dayton and later for the Columbus Division of Fire.

When he wasn’t putting out blazes, he burned through projects in his home studio. While he has worked in a variety of media, Hamwi says he is most fond of bronze casting. The process entails first creating a sculpture in clay, then making a rubber mold from the clay sculpture. The mold is sent to a foundry, which casts the form into bronze.

Eventually, Hamwi gave up his firefighting career in the mid 1990s to pursue art full time. He still works out of his home studio, and partner and manager Connie Michalec helps run the business. Working with bronze has led to many large commissioned pieces, he says, such as the zoo and ballpark pieces. Hamwi also crafted an 8-foot manta ray statue for Aquatic Adventures in Hilliard and has several pieces on display at the New Albany Public Library.

Though these patrons hire him with a specific sculpture in mind, the projects require plenty of creativity, Hamwi says. The challenge becomes making a piece user-friendly as well as visually appealing.

“The creative part for me in larger commissions is making a piece that draws in the audience,” he says. “Because they are site-specific, I try to use the space to make (the sculpture) as friendly for people to approach as possible. I make sure there aren’t places to get caught on it and that there are different ways to approach it. It has to be accessible from 360 degrees and fun from every direction.”

Judging by the public’s reaction to Hamwi’s work, it appears he has succeeded. Hamwi says he often receives letters complimenting him on a job well done. He’s also seen the public’s responses himself.

“Some of the patrons who have sponsored some of the sculptures at the zoo write me wonderful personal letters saying they’ve gone to the zoo and watched how kids react,” he says. “That’s really very rewarding for me. I went to a Clippers game the other night and watched people crawl over the bat, ball and glove. There were a lot of photos taken. It’s rewarding to know the pieces are enjoyed and appreciated and not cloistered away somewhere.”

Even as Hamwi enjoys the success of his bronze work, he continues seeking new media with which to experiment. Recently the 3-D artist has developed an interest in print making, which would provide a reprieve from the physically-challenging world of sculpture. He also likes to play with combined media, such as incorporating glasswork into his bronze sculptures.

“I enjoy playing with a different medium and seeing where it goes,” Hamwi says. “I choose the medium to fit the piece rather than being stuck with the way I have been working. I like to experiment and push the realms of what I do. It’s still the same basic philosophy behind the work – interaction, either intellectually or physically, with the patron.”

What destiny has in store for the prolific artist is a mystery. Hamwi does, however, know one thing: he won’t be quitting art any time soon.

“It’s just the way I think,” he says. “It isn’t like I punch a clock in the morning and then at the end of the day I punch out. I’ll be sitting around or driving and have an idea and sketch it and throw it in a folder somewhere. I’m constantly evolving and changing and thinking. It’s a way of life.”

Kate Lohnes is assistant editor of Upper Arlington Magazine.

For more information about Alan Hamwi and his art, as well as photos of his work, visit www.alanhamwi.com.