Sanford Decker Biography

Sanford Decker is a sculptor in Los Angeles, California. He is the founder of Decker Studios, a fine arts foundry and atelier in North Hollywood, California.

He was born in Detroit, Michigan. Sanford’s education began at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan and continued at Wayne State University, Michigan where he majored in fine arts. Working under the direction of the art department chair, G. Alden Smith, Decker assisted in building the first foundry for Wayne State. There he developed new casting techniques to facilitate the execution of large complex sculptures.

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In Michigan, Decker apprenticed at the Detroit Sculpture Foundry, where he was involved with international sculptors and their monumental public art projects. In 1968 Decker was selected to be a member of the federally supported arts collective, “The Сommon Ground of the Arts.”

It was during this time that Decker built his own foundry in Detroit in order to cast his own sculpture commissions and mount the first European exhibit with a London show in 1969. During his trip, Decker was invited to meet with renown sculptor Henry Moore at his home and studio in Much Hadham, England.

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In the early 1970’s Decker moved to Southern California, where he settled in the Santa Monica Mountains. Shortly after arriving he built his new foundry, gallery and studios in order to create and exhibit his art.

Inspired by the natural environment and its geological transformations, he began a new period of organically inspired sculptures and drawings including his Earth Shields and Earth Totem series.

During this time Sanford served as the arts consultant for the City of Malibu, California, and continued to produce his own work and private commissions while directing Decker Studios Fine Art Foundry. Additionally, he was the bronze-casting consultant for the J. Paul Getty Museum, lectured at several universities and was adjunct professor for the sculpture department at California State University, Northridge.

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Now in his sixth decade of creation, Sanford continues to consult for Museums and art foundries while exploring new ways to express his connection to the natural world through physical form.

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