John Collier · Bio
John Collier’s biography
“I have never seen artwork more moving than John Collier’s other than some of my encounters with the Roman classics. He is a deep and great artist at the highest level. His work always brings tears to my eyes because it reaches into one’s soul with passion, compassion and awe. Bravo!”
Andrea at Andrea Clark Brown Architects, PA Naples, Florida
John Collier, Artist and Sculptor, was born in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas and has been a Texan for at least 25 years.
In 2022 John Collier completed and installed his unique concept of St. Francis of Assisi at Siena College in Loudonville, NY. This eight-foot bronze shows a young St. Francis welcoming others to join him walking in the footsteps of Jesus. (The footsteps are sculpted by the artist in the base, and visitors and students can walk in those footsteps.) The College decided to place the sculpture in front of their new Admissions Building so that visitors, incoming students and families could be welcomed into their Franciscan tradition of education.
John Collier completed two major sculptures that were installed in 2019. For St. Gabriel's Catholic Church in McKinney, Texas he created a large crucifix suspended from the ceiling over the altar. In 2020 John also created a 7-foot bronze sculpture of St. Raphael, the patron saint of St. Raphael's Catholic Church in El Paso, Texas. These and other extraordinary works can be seen on the Hillstream.com home page.
In 2018 John Collier created an 8-foot by 10-foot bas-relief depicting St. Ignatius Loyola writing his spiritual exercises at his cave in Manresa, Spain. It was commissioned by the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts where it is installed at their new Joyce Contemplative Center. (See Mr. Collier's bas-relief page.)
From a selected group of more than thirty artists, John Collier was chosen as the Chief Sculptor for the 9/11Catholic Memorial at Ground Zero. His four sculptures, representing the patron saints of police, firefighters, and workers, along with St. Mary Magdalene, first witness to the Resurrection, received the prestigious Optimé Award from Ministry and Liturgy Magazine and these sculptures were dedicated by the Archbishop of New York, in memory of those who died on 9/11 and of those who took part in the rescue effort. The works are permanently installed on the portico of St. Peter's Church, adjacent to Ground Zero in New York.
John is one of America's most honored Artists. He has been awarded over twenty Gold and Silver medals by the Society of Illustrators in New York. Because of the influence of his work, he was inducted into the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame in 2012 for his lifetime achievement. He has also received numerous awards from arts institutions of higher learning: he was honored as the Joyce C. Hall Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Kansas. He has lectured at Syracuse University, the Art Center College of Design, the Pratt Institute, the Smithsonian Institute, the University of Delaware, and at many other of this Nation's most recognized institutions of art.
Mr. Collier’s work has been exhibited at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Mulvane Museum, the Narthex Gallery at Saint Peter’s Church in New York City and at Tatistcheff Gallery in New York, the New York Historical Society Museum, Christie's Auction House, and the Smithsonian Institute’s Traveling Art Exhibition, the Museum of Biblical Arts in Dallas, as well as many churches and religious institutions. His work has been displayed at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts in Longview, Texas and at the Haas Fine Art Gallery at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.
For years the magazine Faith & Form, in conjunction with IFRAA, the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture, presented awards for outstanding contributions in faith-based art. In four separate years John Collier has won awards from this prestigious group, namely for his paintings and sculptures of the “Annunciation,” “St. Mary Magdalene,” his “Crucifix” and for his “Mary at the Wedding of Cana.” John has also won numerous awards from Ministry & Liturgy and Art and Environment magazines.