Renowned artist Wendell Castle dead at 85

Wendell Castle, the internationally recognized sculptor and art furniture craftsman who brought acclaim for more than 50 years to the Rochester area, his adopted home, is dead at 85.

Castle died at his home in the village of Scottsville Saturday, about two weeks after a retrospective exhibit, “Wendell Castle Remastered” closed at the Memorial Art Gallery. The collection of 40 of his works had previously been shown at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York.

An artist in residence at Rochester Institute of Technology, where he began teaching in 1962, Castle is represented in the permanent collections of more than 50 museums and galleries around the world. He was considered a leader of the American Studio Furniture movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He came to RIT’s School of American Craft as a sculptor and learned how to make furniture here, employing sculptural techniques to elevate the craft to a new style of art form.

“Wendell was a towering figure in the international world of art and design.” said Jonathan P. Binstock, MAG’s Mary W. and Donald R. Clark director. “At the same time, his importance to Rochester cannot be overstated. He is an icon who will long remain an inspiration and leading light of our local arts and cultural communities.”

“Wendell Castle is known the world over for his contributions to the field of art and design,” said Josh Owen, professor and chair of RIT’s industrial design program in RIT’s School of Design.

According to RIT, “Mr. Castle’s designs were organic, bold and at times whimsical. Crafted from hardwoods, plastics, concrete and metals, he utilized multiple disciplines that included stack lamination, hand carving techniques, casting forms in bronze, and even programming a six-axis computer numerical call milling robot to carve his designs.”

“As important and influential as he was,” Binstock said, “Wendell showed up at art openings in Rochester, no matter how small or grand. He was always the best-dressed, coolest guy in the room, and he was genial, approachable, down to earth—a farm boy from Kansas, as he was wont to say. He supported his friends and colleagues; he supported the arts community. He contributed generously to the art scene and especially to MAG. He will be sorely missed. All of us at the museum send our condolences to his wife, the artist Nancy Jurs, and their entire family.”

In addition to his wife, Castle is survived by a brother, Wayne Castle; a sister, Nancy Benedict; two children, Alison and Bryon; and two grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.

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