Blair Buswell

Blair Buswell – “Sculptor of Sports Legends” – 1990 Sport Artist of the Year

Graduation from high school was not the end for Buswell’s involvement in sports. Accepted to Ricks College in Rexburg Idaho on art, academic, and athletic scholarships, he majored in art, and was an all-conference running back and most valuable player in football. The same year he was an all-conference sprinter, all in addition to being named the school’s top art student.

Buswell studied illustration at Utah State University, and then transferred to Brigham Young University where he majored in Secondary Art Education on an art scholarship with a special emphasis in sculpture. While at Brigham Young, Buswell was named the top sculpture student while at the same time playing on the nationally ranked football team from 1979-1981. Buswell received the “Invisible Award” from the football team “for a player who wasn’t a starter, but a good influence on both players and coaches.” He was also given the “Scholarly Athlete Award” for what he achieved outside of football. His senior year, he was hired to teach sculpture at BYU and taught beginning and advanced sculpture there for the next four years.

Since graduating from BYU, Buswell has worked as a professional sculptor and continues to do so today.

Blair Buswell – “Sculptor of Sports Legends” – 1990 Sport Artist of the Year

Buswell was the first sculptor to be named Sport Artist of the Year. With his background in sports and particularly his background in sport art, Buswell seemed the ideal candidate to be named as such.

Buswell’s bronze sculptures are more than a mere representation of a familiar sports figure or sports moment. He likes to capture the gesture, mood, and expression of a person in thought or the intensity of the moment of an athlete in action. “I have to get to know and study the person I do a sculpture of,” Buswell said.

Buswell feels that having experienced the thrill of sports first-hand gives him an important perspective to capture the intensity, competitiveness and motion of an athletic moment. But, he says, it takes more than that. “You have to capture more than the action or moment,” Buswell said. “It’s more like ballet. There’s an art form in sports when you capture a certain moment when a graceful athlete is doing his thing at the highest level—whether it’s a finger-tip catch or a homerun swing.”

Buswell has stayed closely affiliated with the United States Sports Academy and was later commissioned by the Academy to design the “Order of the Eagle Exemplar” Medallion given to each recipient of the American Sport Art Museum and Archives’ Awards of Sport. The Medallion design is still being used today. Buswell was most recently commissioned to create a medallion for Zhenliang He Culture Award, which is presented to the Sport Artist of the Year. He has also sculpted a life-size bust of the Academy’s president, Dr. Thomas P. Rosandich, which is on display at the Academy.

Blair Buswell – “Sculptor of Sports Legends” – 1990 Sport Artist of the Year

Buswell’s big break came when he met Coach Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers. Upon seeing one of Buswell’s sculptures at a BYU annual sports awards banquet, Walsh asked Buswell to do a special piece of sculpture for the 49ers. Later, Walsh introduced Buswell to the directors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

That introduction would prove to be a valuable one. Buswell was hired by the Hall in 1982 and has created more than 70 busts of the new inductees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Buswell said, “A big highlight of my career is getting to know the Hall of Famers in many sports. I make sure I meet each person before I begin a work. They all pose for me. If they don’t come here, I will go there. Some sculptors work strictly by pictures. If I did that I wouldn’t be able to do as good a job and it wouldn’t be as much fun for me.”

Later, he was named the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s chief sculptor. From his first bust of Sid Gillman, to stars like Joe Montana, John Madden, and Barry Sanders, Buswell got to see a side of many sports greats that few other people see.

While talking to a reporter from The Star-Ledger in New Jersey, Buswell discussed the process of preparing pro football legends for that day they all dream of — that moment when their bust is enshrined forever, for the entire football world to see.

“My job is to make it so they’re comfortable with what we have done during the posing session, i.e. expression and likeness, so they’re not shocked or surprised on their big day,” Buswell said. “The bust is going to be there a long time.”

Buswell’s works are in the permanent collections of fine art museums, private collections, college campuses, sports complexes and art galleries nationwide. His commissions keep him busy.

Buswell also designed the National Football League Charitable Service Award, the Major League Baseball Home Run Champion award, the champions commemorative medallions for several Super Bowls, the NFC & AFC Championship Trophies, and the Doak Walker National Collegiate Running Back Award.

Some of Buswell’s over-life size monuments include Mickey Mantle hitting one of his 52 home runs on his way to winning the Triple Crown in 1956, Jack Nicklaus making the winning putt to win his sixth Masters in 1986 commissioned for the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in Augusta, Oscar Robertson for the University of Cincinnati, and Doak Walker for Southern Methodist University. He was recently commissioned to sculpt monuments honoring Coach Robert Neyland for the University of Tennessee and Merlin Olsen for Utah State University.

Buswell loves the journey of learning and is always looking for ways to improve his skills. He does this by studying with other professional artists. Always the student as well as the teacher, Buswell willingly participates in critical review with other respected professionals and at the same time he freely shares his knowledge and eye for design with others.