John Rood (February 22, 1902 – March 20, 1974) was an American sculptor who worked with wood, stone, glass, and metal.
[2] Rood worked for the family business—Lawhead Press—and with Mary co-edited and published a literary magazine titled "Manuscript" that ran for a few years.
[4] In 1944 Rood was contacted by Laurence Schmeckebier who was the head of the Fine Arts Department at the University of Minnesota and was asked if he would be interested in joining the staff to teach sculpture.
[7] In 1933 Rood started wood carving in Athens, Ohio and it wasn't long before he had his first one-person exhibit at Argent Galleries, in New York in 1937.
Rood was creating shapes that resembled "human limbs and tree branches, seaweed and driftwood, wave and flame.
"[9] Some of the materials he worked with over the years included: marble, limestone, terra cotta, metal, glass, and wood carvings of ebony, walnut, oak, elm and myrtle.
[13][14] Rood completed a set of wood panel sculptures depicting American pioneer women for the headquarters of the American Association of University Women in Washington D.C.[15] For the Minneapolis Public Library building at 300 Nicollet Mall Rood created a 27 foot high, 13 ton art piece titled The Scroll.
At the time, Rood's wife Dorothy was the president of the library board and she donated the sculpture in dedication to William Henry Eustis.
Eustis was a lawyer and political figure who financed Dorothy's college education and encouraged her to "love Minneapolis and do things for it.
Rood worked with Chicago architectural firm Holabird and Root to develop the final plans for the site.