Forever Saluki | Sharp Museum | SIU

“Forever Saluki” “Saluki Alumni Plaza”

Cast Bronze

Between Pulliam and Alumni Center

Alumni Association

Medwedeff Forge and Design, artists John Medwedeff and

Megan Robin-Abbott

This new campus landmark is a 19-foot-long sculpture. The artists used an epoxy-based clay to sculpt three dogs approximately 2.5 times larger then life, captured running, mid-stride. Medwedeff and studio supervisor Megan Robin-Abbott spent hours with two of the university’s canine mascots, poking, prodding and measuring them to create lifelike reproductions. The dogs were then cast in bronze at a foundry in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The design concept was developed by university alumni. The SIU Alumni Association National Board of Directors in 2018 initiated a major fundraising campaign to support this new landmark space recognizing the university’s recent 150th anniversary celebration. These three Salukis, fashioned in a running formation represent the past, present and future students here at Southern Illinois University on the Carbondale campus.

Medwedeff Forge and Design Studio produces large-scale public and site-specific sculpture, sculpture for exhibitions, and high-end architectural projects for commercial, museum, public and residential projects. This 6000 square foot studio established in 1988, encompasses a traditional studio, blacksmith shop and industrial metalworking technologies. Medwedeff maintains an active studio. Some of his public art commissions throughout the United States include: University of Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Lexington, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, Joliet Community College, Michigan State University in East Lansing. jmedwedeff@aol.com

Medwedeff was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He studied at the University of Memphis and the Memphis Academy of Art. He was an apprentice of James Wallace. He earned his BFA and was recipient of the Rickert-Ziebold Trust Award at SIUC. Likewise, he earned an MFA from the School of Art and Design at SIUC.