John Raymond Henry

1943 - 2022

John Raymond Henry
August 11, 1943 - November 1, 2022
Brooksville, Florida - John Raymond Henry, 79, internationally recognized sculptor, artist, arts supporter, activist, and community builder, died November 1, 2022 at his home in Brooksville, Florida. Henry is the creator of "Symphony of the Bluegrass," a monumental sculpture recently erected at the entrance of the renovated Rupp Arena. Like so many of his works, the sculpture is at the same time solidly grounded yet openly aspirational. According to a forthcoming article about his work, "Within a symphony of implied movement, tons of steel balance on point, anchoring into the earth to appear as though lifting away from that stabile. In the very foundations of some works are enclosures that link our personal space to the sacred and do so in the three-dimensional language of the secular." Henry grew up in Lexington and graduated from Lafayette High School, where he is in the Alumni Hall of Fame. He studied at the University of Kentucky and received his B.F.A from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University. In 1996 the University of Kentucky awarded him the Honorary Doctor of Arts degree for "sustained achievement and distinction of national or international significance." In 2005, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award for "extraordinary service to the university and the association." His talents captured the attention of such organizations as the Ryerson Fellowship at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Ford Foundation, and The National Endowment of the Arts, which awarded him three separate grants. His work is in public and private collections across the globe, with large-scale sculpture in major cities including Chicago, St Louis, Dallas, numerous sites in Florida as well as in Italy, Germany, Brazil, South Korea and China. Henry and his wife Pamela, turned a brownfield area of Chattanooga, Tennessee, into a sculpture destination. "Sculpture Fields at Montague Park" is a repository for works of sculpture by internationally known artists on thirty-three acres of a city-owned field. Their compound of home, office and studio was the eastern anchor of development by the city, turning an under-utilized industrial area into a vibrant residential neighborhood in a short period of four years. John's years of service to the International Sculpture Center included his tenure as Chairman of the Board and active advisor as well as Chairman Emeritus. In recognition of his service and of his many other contributions to the arts and to the profession of sculpture, the International Sculpture Center selected John for its Lifetime Achievement Award, to be conferred in May 2023. John Henry was larger than life, with a laugh that filled the room, a story or a joke at the ready. Whether wearing a tuxedo or jeans and cowboy boots, he presented a can-do persona, one that could tackle almost any challenge and wrestle it to the ground. Henry is survived by his wife, Pamela, daughters Katherine Henry (Harry Hudson) and Stacey Lyle, grandson Maxwell Barrett, Henry Wolf and brothers-in-law Wendell Kingsolver (Eva Lee) and Rodney Bedgio (Lody Bedgio) as well as many nephews, nieces, and cousins. He was predeceased by his parents, A.R. and Nellie Campbell Henry, and his sisters, Virginia Henry Kingsolver, Lenora Henry Isenhour and his brother-in-law Richard B. Isenhour. Visitation will take place on Thursday, November 10th from 4 pm to 7 pm at Milward –Southland located at 391 Southland Dr. Graveside services on Friday, November 11th at 11 am at the Lexington Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to Sculpture Fields, Chattanooga, TN, sculpturefields.org. Please visit milwardfuneral.com for more service detail.