A new addition has been added to Highland Hills Park this week.
The statue titled “Kentucky Family” was crafted by local sculptor, Michael Skop, who was assisted by the Northern Kentucky Vocational-Technical School students in collaboration with Professor George Telford’s welding class. After the school was razed, the sculpture was donated to the City of Fort Thomas to be installed in the parks. There is still work to be done on the statue once it is warmer out including the addition of a plaque honoring Skop and his work.
MORE ABOUT THE SCULPTOR
Michael Skop (1932-2009) lived and worked in Fort Thomas Kentucky at Studio 70 on Hawthorne Avenue. For forty years, he attracted students from all over the United States, England, Canada, and Japan. Skop studied at Syracuse University and the University of Notre Dame with Ivan Mestrovic and then went on to study at the Royal Danish Art Academy through a Scandinavian grant to Copenhagen, Denmark with Mogens Bøggild. Skop then won the very first Fulbright Scholarship of the arts where he studied in Florence, Italy and at the University of Perugia. Skop taught locally at the Cincinnati Art Academy and Northern Kentucky University.
Mike Skop was able to uniquely portray the softness of clay by attaching small pieces of metal one upon another. To date, no other steel sculpture has ever been seen to accomplish this proficiency.
Fun Fact: You can still drive past his former studio on Hawthorn and see one of his statues in the front lawn!
Above: Kentucky Family recently installed in Highland Hills Park next to the Dog park.
Above: The Statue at it’s original location at the Northern Kentucky Vocational-Technical School in Covington prior to the demolition of the school.
Sculptor Michael Skop in front of his house on Hawthorne Ave.