| Tom Tsuchiya | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 3, 1972 |
| Nationality | American |
| Field | sculpture |
| Training | Apprentice to Richard J. Miller |
| Website | www.tomtsuchiya.com [2] |
Tom Tsuchiya also known as Norikazu (born August 3, 1972) is an American artist who creates public sculpture. He is best known for bronze sculptures for Major League Baseball and the National Football League.
Tsuchiya created four life-size bronze sculptures of Cincinnati Reds players at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio U.S.A.. These sculptures, depicting Crosley Field era players involved in an imaginary ballgame, represent Joe Nuxhall pitching to Frank Robinson, Ernie Lombardi catching and Ted Kluszewski on deck. All four sculptures were completed by 2004.
In 2009, Tsuchiya was commissioned to design and sculpt the Madden Most Valuable Protectors Award to honor the NFL's best offensive line.[1] He created this bronze trophy as a departure from the traditional award design, integrating figures of the players into the trophy's base.[2] On February 3, 2010, the offensive line of New Orleans Saints became the inaugural winner of the trophy.
Other works by Tsuchiya include the sculpture to honor slain baseball coach Cleveland Parker III. This sculpture features a relief portrait of Parker, a poem and a spiraling arrangement of representations of home plate, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bases. At night, this sculpture announces its presence by emitting pulsating light created by digitally controlled LEDs located inside the sculpture's body. Tsuchiya collaborated with American poet Nikki Giovanni on this memorial who wrote a poem celebrating Cleveland Parker's life that is inscribed on the north side of the sculpture. Cleveland Parker was a Cincinnati youth baseball coach who was fatally struck by a stray bullet on July 12, 2005.[3]