Christian Petersen (sculptor)

[1] His large-scale sculpture has been the object of numerous restoration projects at Iowa State University, to preserve his public art legacy.

[3][4] He was married to Emma L. Hoenicke from 1908 to 1928, with whom he had three children, Helene Petersen Male (1909–2000), Lawrence (1912–1981), and Ruth Eleanor Sollenberger (1915–1987).

He joined the Art Students League of New York at the age of 22, and studied with leading artists there, including Henry Hudson Kitson and George Bridgman.

[5] In 1917, his sculpture, Josiah Everett Draper, accepted at annual exhibition of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

In addition to his sculptural work, Petersent illustrated Cha-Ki-Shi (1936), a children's book on the Meskwaki people of Tama County.

He also taught clay modeling to handicapped children twice a week as a volunteer at Smouse Opportunity School in Des Moines.

Petersen died of cancer on 4 April 1961, four days after inspecting and signing the last casting mold for A Dedication to the Future for the Fisher Community Center in Marshalltown, Iowa.

[4] The exhibition "Christian Petersen Remembered," which included small sculptures and models from private collections, was held at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames, Iowa in 1986.

Many of these early works of art are unlocated and Iowa State University Museums is actively searching for the sculptures or information leading to their location.

Petersen's dairy courtyard sculptures, after a nomination submitted by Patricia L. Bliss, were accepted for the National Register of Historic Places on 7 April 1987.

A biography written by Patricia Lounsbury Bliss, Christian Petersen Remembered, was published by Iowa State University Press in 1986.

The Christian Petersen Art Museum opened in 2007 in historic Morrill Hall, Iowa State University campus.

[4] Christian Petersen's Cornhusker, 4-H Calf, Library Boy and Girl Models, Seated Abraham Lincoln, and Reclining Nudes are all located in the sculpture garden.