The MMF Sculpture Museum Saginaw Valley State University, 7400 Bay Road University Center, MI 48710 (phone: 989.964.7125) museumtours@svsu.edu
http://www.svsu.edu/mfsm/index.htm

Marshall M. Fredericks Abbreviated Biography Site - http://www.svsu.edu/mfsm/aboutmf.htm

(The following is a transcript of the biography for Fredericks from the SVSU site):

"Marshall M. Fredericks was born of Scandinavian heritage in Rock Island, Illinois on January 31, 1908. His family moved to Florida for a short time and then settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where he grew up. He graduated from the Cleveland School of Art in 1930 and journeyed abroad on a fellowship to study with Carl Milles (1875-1955) in Sweden. After some months he studied in other academies and private studios in Denmark, Germany, France, and Italy, and traveled extensively in Europe and North Africa."

"In 1932 he was invited by Carl Milles to join the staffs of Cranbrook Academy of Art and Cranbrook and Kingswood Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, teaching there until he enlisted in the armed forces in 1942. In 1945 Fredericks was honorably discharged from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel."

"After World War II, the sculptor worked continuously on his numerous commissions for fountains, memorials, free-standing sculptures, reliefs, and portraits in bronze and other materials. Many of his works have spiritual intensity, lighthearted humor and a warm and gentile spirit like that found in Fredericks himself."

"Fredericks was the recipient of many American and foreign awards and decorations for his artistic and humanitarian achievements. He served as Royal Danish Consul for Michigan from 1965 to 1995 and worked in his Royal Oak and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, studios until just days before his death in 1998."

"Mr. Fredericks was born in Rock Island, Illinois on January 31, 1908. A graduate of the Cleveland School of Art, he studied in Sweden, Germany, France, and Italy, traveling extensively in Europe and North Africa. He taught in Cleveland, Ohio, and for nine and one-half years at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He left during World War II for service in the Pacific and Far East."

"A winner of many important awards, Mr. Fredericks exhibited his work throughout the United States and abroad. Many of his sculptures are in national, civic, and private collections. He received the Gold Fine Arts Medal of the American Institute of Architects; The Gold Medal of Honor of the Architectural League of New York; The Gold Medal of Honor from the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters and the Henry Hering Medal from the National Sculpture Society. In 1966 he was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Michigan Association of the Professions. In 1968 he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement and the President's Cabinet Medallion from the University of Detroit. He received the International Achievement Award of the Concerned Citizens for the Arts in Michigan in 1993."

"Mr. Fredericks is an Academician of the National Academy of Design; a Fellow of the International Consular Academy; a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society; a Life Fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters; an Honorary Member of the Michigan Society of Architects; the American Institute of Decorators; The National Society of Interior Designers and is a Beta Sigma Phi. Other memberships include the Federation International de la Medaille; The Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters; the Norse Civic League, the Rebild National Park Society; the Danish Brotherhood; the Sons of Norway; the Nordmanns Forbundet and the Royal Society of the Arts, London, England."

"He has received citations from the University of Detroit, Dana College, the State of Michigan, the State of Wisconsin, the American Institute of Architects, the Michigan Society of Architects, the National Society of Crippled Children and Adults, and the People-to-People Committee for the Handicapped. Also the City of Aalborg, Denmark; Michigan Medical Society; Vanfore Foreningen, Denmark; People-to-People International; American Scandinavian Foundation, Cad of Detroit, Michigan; National Association for Retarded Children; Royal Academy of Art, London, England; Sons of Norway; the Statens Institute for Blinde, Svagsnede, Denmark; and the University of Oslo, Norway. He was appointed by the Governor of Michigan to the joint legislative-executive committee for the new State Capitol."

"Mr. Fredericks was Co-founder with the Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Urban Hansen, and American Director of Diadem, Deidem-Return, and Diadem-Leader Programs for International Exchange of the Handicapped. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the People-to-People Committee for the Handicapped; the American-Scandinavian Foundation; the Rebild National Park Society; and the Brookgreen Gardens, South Carolina."

"In February 1963, His Majesty King Frederik IX of Denmark conferred upon him the Knighthood of the Order of Dannebrog. In August 1971, His Majesty King Frederik IX conferred upon him Knighthood First Class of the Order of Dannebrog. In October 1972, His Majesty King Olav V of Norway conferred upon him the Order of Saint Olav, First Class. On March 30, 1978, Her Majesty Queen Margrethe of Denmark bestowed upon him the Commander's Cross of the Order of Dannebrog. On September 8, 1995 His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden conferred upon him the Commander's Cross of the Order of the North Star. He was also the recipient of twenty-one other Foreign Decorations for his sculpture and humanitarian accomplishments. Mr. Fredericks served as the Royal Danish Consul for Michigan from 1965 until 1995."

"He married Rosalind Bell Cooke in 1943 and was the father of five children. He had eight grandchildren. After World War II, Mr. Fredericks resided in Birmingham, Michigan, and kept studios in Royal Oak and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan until his death on April 4, 1998."

(Copyright SVSU)

E-mail Nancy
Return to Biography Page
Home