Sam Richards was a prolific sculptor. He was knowledgeable, articulate, and down to earth, a man of sparing speech and personal and artistic integrity.   

He was born in Wilmington, Delaware in 1946 and grew up in small towns on Maryland's Eastern Shore, not far from Ocean City, which was sparsely developed at the time. He took an early interest in drawing, painting, and making things. His family recognized his abilities and encouraged him. Stories and objects from his family's history, and finding evidence of the country's early history on the beach - including copper sheeting, wooden pegs, and old coins from early shipwrecks - sparked his interest in all kinds of history. 

At the University of Delaware he began to focus on sculpture, while learning about drawing, painting, photography and art history, and becoming aware of contemporary artists and issues. He continued his studies at Skowhegan School in Maine, Tyler School of Art's Rome program, and at Indiana University, where he earned his M.F.A. Following school, he fitted sculpture-making around a miscellany of jobs in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, and then moved to Canada to teach college full-time. Exploring the environs of all these places gave him new insights that were reflected in his sculpture.

After a year at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, he took a position at the University of Louisville. He and his wife established their home in Louisville, where they raised their two children. He found academic life a fertile environment. He enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow faculty and students and found it reinforced and nurtured his love of study and studio practice. It provided the time and resources he needed to make sculpture. 

Richards exhibited often, selling to public and private collections. He died in 1994, just before his 48th birthday.

Click here for Richards’ professional resumé.