Thomas Scharman Buechner (pronounced BEAK-ner; September 25, 1926 – June 13, 2010) was an artist who turned to working at museums.
He was raised in Bronxville, New York and attended the Lawrenceville School in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey.
After completing high school, he was assigned to attend a training program at Princeton University as part of his service in the United States Navy.
After completing his military service he spent a year working for the Puerto Rico tourism board so that he could learn the Spanish language.
[1][6] Buechner requested that the city give the sculptures to the museum after they were threatened with destruction as part of a project to connect the bridge to expressways on either side of the East River.