Fred Hoppe
Fred Hoppe |
Fred Hoppe has been involved in the museum exhibit and sculpting field for over 21 years, winning over 100 state, national, and international awards. His recent specialization includes wildlife and monumental bronze sculpture. Research and field studies have taken him to Europe, Africa, and most of North America's wilderness areas, including Canada's Yukon and Northwest Territories. Eight of his 40 trips to Alaska have been above the Arctic Circle.
Fred's work is nationally known, and includes commissions for Former President George Bush (Fred was selected from a field of over 400 artists to do this commission), General Norman Schwarzkopf, Former Vice-President Dan Quayle, the President of India, Nebraska Governor Ben Nelson, and other national and international figures.
To honor Nebraska's 4 National Football Championships, Fred created the bronze sculpture that sits on the campus of the University of Lincoln, "Husker Legacy". This is a life-size sculpture of seven football players and is placed outside Memorial Stadium. Also sitting on the university campus is a life-size replica of a giant imperial mammoth that roamed the plains of Nebraska 23,000 years ago. Sitting outside Morrill Hall, "Archie" is 26 feet long and stands on its base at 17 feet high. Over 300 of Fred's bronzes have been donated to non-profit organizations, such as Eppley Cancer Center, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Nebraska schools, and others, raising over $ 500,000. Fred's most recent sculpture is over 70 feet long and weighs 15 tons. The sculpture features 50 life-size soldiers (modeled after a veteran from each state) storming a beach. It is located at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Branson, Missouri.
The Veterans Memorial Museum was envisioned, financed, created, and implemented by Fred and opened in October of 2000 with the official grand opening on November 11, 2000. This national tribute is his vision to honor the legacy of our veterans of the 20th Century. Fred has been interviewing and researching veterans for over 25 years and collected over 2000 exhibits and artifacts for the museum. He personally wrote the scripts for each display and also created other bronze sculptures and commissioned murals to adorn the museum which consists of over 18,000 square feet of exhibits and artifacts.
Fred was born and raised in Nebraska. He attended Nebraska Western and the University of Nebraska. Fred is married to Donna and they have three sons. Along with creating special bronze sculpture commissions for others, Fred is creating additional sculptures for the Veterans Memorial Museum in Branson, Missouri; as well as directing the operations of the museum; and procuring additional exhibits for the Veterans Memorial Museum.
|
