Award-winning sculptor Craig Campobella discusses his beginnings, the importance of honest criticism, and why he chooses to create certain pieces.
Craig Campobella was so nervous, he never left his vehicle. Beside him in the passenger seat was an Indian head. When he pulled his car up to the local foundry, a man came out. Campobella leaned over and flung the passenger door open. He waited for the man to respond. The man studied the Indian bust only for a second and then looked at Campobella. “What you’re trying to tell me is that that’s an Indian.”
That was all Campobella needed to hear. He said thank you and drove off. Campobella, now a celebrated and award-winning sculptor, tells this story with a laugh, but he knows that this moment was arguably the most important in his artistic career.
He had never attended art school. He was never a master’s apprentice. He had simply shown a natural talent for sculpting. Before this humorous anecdote in the parking lot of the local foundry, he realized he might be able to do something in the way of artistic expression when his friend noticed a piece he’d made. Campobella had sculpted an Indian sitting on a rock, covered in a blanket, with his hair blowing in the wind. The piece was drying on his mantel when the friend offered him $50 for it. Fifty dollars in the 1980s was no cheap offer.
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These two moments in his life proved to be career landmarks, despite their obvious disparity. The first, which resulted in his first sale, was one of unexpected encouragement. The second was constructive, yet direct criticism. After both moments, Campobella continued to hone his natural ability, but it was the criticism that caused him to dedicate the next decade of his life to perfecting his craft.
“Literally for the next 10 years, I did noses, ears, hands, bodies. I got anatomy books. I went to museums,” Campobella said. “I actually went to Belize to work with some people just to have the excuse to go to the museums. I stayed there around three years [2000 to 2003] and I went everywhere. It was all self-study.”
A Monumental Moment
When he returned Stateside, he began creating, and people started buying. Encouraged by the reception of his work, he decided to enter an art competition in Houston in 2006. He entered three pieces. He won first, second and third.
“In those competitions, if you’ve won first place, you have to take first place out, and then you can take the second and third place [entries] to another show within this guild of 20-something different towns,” Campobella explained. “Then I would win first and second. And then I would take the third place one to another, and it would win first.
“I’m telling you, I am shocked all this time. Obviously, I practiced a lot. I read a lot. I studied. But it surprised me. And it wasn’t lost on me that it was a gift.”
Soon, the gift gave way to a historic opportunity. He was commissioned by the City of Conroe and Montgomery County—the birthplace of the Texas flag—to sculpt a monumental piece.
This monumental sculpture would be the centerpiece of the new Lone Star Monument and Historical Flag Park in Conroe, celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto. His 14-foot tall bronze statue entitled “The Texian” was unveiled on April 21, 2011—San Jacinto Day——before 1,500 people. Among the attendees were Sam Houston IV, country music star Clint Black, and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Marty Stuart. Pat Spackey, the great-great-great granddaughter of Dr. Charles B. Stewart, the presumed creator of the Texas flag, wept with emotion upon seeing the statue.
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For Campobella, it would be the first of many monumental pieces. To date, he has created 18 life-size sculptures that can be found throughout Texas in parks, hospitals, and banks.
The Use of Symbolism
Campobella is well-known for his Texas history pieces that illustrate moments of the Texas Revolution, such as the Battle of Gonzales (of “Come and Take It” fame), the Battle of the Alamo, and the citizen soldier (i.e., the Texian). The sculptor claims he has two primary requirements to create a piece of art: First, he must want to do it, and second, it must be what he calls “a teaching piece.”
“I add a lot of little things in there,” he said. “Symbolism within symbolism within symbolism.”
“The Texian” is a masterclass in symbolism. The two main elements—the man and the flag—are literal rather than symbolic. The symbols are found in the tiny elements: the 13 rocks under the Texian’s left foot represent the number of days fought at the Alamo; on those 13 stones are 354 marks, representing the number of soldiers massacred at Goliad; there are nine stones under the statue’s right foot, representing the nine Texas soldiers who died at the Battle of San Jacinto; the 18 buttons on the Texian’s outfit represent the number of minutes it took to defeat Santa Anna’s Mexican Army at San Jacinto; and the stone under the right toe of the Texian is what he calls the “Santa Anna Stone,” representing the ongoing struggle with the Mexican general.
Campobella and Marty Stuart
It was “The Texian” that introduced Campobella to the country music legend Marty Stuart. In 2010, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives performed during the annual Sounds of Texas Music Series at Conroe’s Crighton Theatre. Directly across the street from the theater was Campobella’s art studio. Stuart found himself staring through the large window at the unfinished “Texian.”
Campobella was in the theater manning his art booth as part of a cross-promotion for the music series. He had several smaller versions of his art on display. When the night’s concert ended, Stuart walked directly to Campobella’s table.
“He asked, ‘Do you know the guy who’s working on the cowboy looking thing over there?’ I said, ‘Yeah, let me go get him.’ And I stuck my hand out and introduced myself,” Campobella recalled. “I asked if he’d like to come over and look at it. They had a little time, so he and the Fabulous Superlatives came over there. Then, he invited me to go on the road with him. So when he left, I asked this promoter friend of mine what he thought, and he said, ‘Go! You don’t get that kind of offer very often.’”
What resulted has been an ongoing friendship for nearly 15 years. It also resulted in one of Campobella’s most impressive pieces of work. He was requested to create a statue of Stuart that will become an artistic centerpiece for the musician’s Congress of Country Music in Philadelphia, Mississippi. The request met both of Campobella’s requirements, but it also met a third requirement for work regarding a person dead or alive.
“We’re talking about character,” Campobella explained. “Marty’s had the same guys in his band for 20 years. He’s been married to the same woman for about 20 years in the roughest business in the world. He loves his mamma. He loves his state. He loves teaching. He loves celebrating all the ones who came before and all the ones who came after him. And the guy, if he was sitting here, would be just like us. He’s just a real guy. And that’s a story I wanted to tell.”
In May 2022, Campobella told that story at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson as part of “The World of Marty Stuart” exhibit. The statue, called “The Pilgrim” after the country legend’s 10th studio album, was designed in typical Campobella fashion—full of symbolism. The musician-in-bronze is wearing all black, as Stuart is wont to do. He is holding his favorite guitar, the much revered Telecaster “Clarence,” named after its famed and tragically killed owner Clarence White. The strap on the guitar represents the one Stuart received from singer Travis Tritt. There is a wedding ring; a Grammy Award, reflecting the five he has won; a feather, representing his adoption by the Lakota Tribe; a crow wearing a tophat and monocle with a cup of coffee that reads “Remain Fabulous”; and a massive cape that is more than meets the eye.
“On his cape in what looks like seams, we have the names of all the people and places that touched his life,” Campobella said. “When I was sculpting ‘The Pilgrim,’ I listened to the song called ‘The Pilgrim’ over and over again. So I tried to do a three-dimensional physical metaphor of the music, the sounds, and the travels of this pilgrim. Marty was well pleased.”
Campobella isn’t slowing down. His new art studio, located on his southeast Texas property that is well off the beaten path, is full of pending projects. It is countless hours of cutting foam, painting, measuring, remeasuring, and then “doing the clay one pinch at a time.”
Along with his 18 monumental pieces, he has created 35 tabletop pieces, including “The Alamo” and “Come and Take It,” both of which have been displayed at the prestigious Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. He has received commendations from the Texas Legislature, the Texas Senate, and the Texas Governor. He has won more than 60 awards, including three Best of Show. According to his website, he was the first sculptor in The Lone Star Art Guild’s history to have won a Best of Show, much less three.
Where he stands now is a far cry from an Indian head in his passenger seat, but it was that moment that pushed him to become the artist he is today. Despite the success, Campobella still works diligently at his craft, and, with every unveiling, he admits there is still a sense of nervousness he gets.
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“It’s hard to put your work out on display. I think you have to be tough as nails, and unconcerned about what is going to be said,” he noted. “I think with most jobs you can sandbag five, six, 10 hours a week and no one would ever know it. With this, you can’t sandbag anything. It is what it is, and then it is cast in forever.”
