EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally appeared in Heart of Ohio Magazine in the Jan./Feb. 2016 issue. It is being republished through a cooperative agreement with Richland Source. To read more stories on Heart of Ohio Magazine log on at www.heartofohiomagazine.com.
One of the preferred definitions in Simple English Wikipedia for Renaissance Man is, “anyone who is very clever at many different things.” I’ve met many men and women in my lifetime who have a variety of skills but I wouldn’t describe the majority of them as all that clever. However, I had a chance meeting with Jon Hair about six months ago, and by the time our hour-long visit had ended, I was both impressed by what I had learned and exhausted by the way in which he had shared! Jon was boisterous but articulate, emotional yet honest, and yes… clever.
Jon grew up in a dysfunctional family; shuttled between his mom, dad and an orphanage, he and his brothers had to discover their talents on their own. For Jon, that meant drawing, drawing and drawing whatever came into focus — real life or imaginary. When he wasn’t sketching, young Mr. Hair was usually beating on something with whatever could be used as drumsticks. Those were the first indications of Jon’s artistic and musical creativity.
After spending some years growing up in Iowa and Florida, Jon and his family came to Mansfield. As a sixth grader at Woodville School, he was not as engaged in the classroom activities as many of his teachers thought he should be, and thus spent more time than most students in the principal’s office. Thankfully, he eventually hit the books and retained enough knowledge to earn a spot in the 1968 graduating class at Mansfield Senior High School.
Uncertain as to how to satisfy his creative appetite, Hair enrolled at The Ohio State University-Mansfield, with plans to follow an educational path in fine arts. After a relatively short stay there, he switched to the Columbus School of Art and Design. At the same time Jon was struggling to discover how to unleash his passion for making music. He had a flair for both, and those who saw his artwork would ask, “Why are you wasting time with music?” Conversely, those who heard his talent as a drummer with various well known groups wondered why he would consider doing anything else.
The artist in him won out, and for the next quarter of a century, Jon Hair paid the bills by utilizing his gifts as a graphic artist; first for others, and then as the owner/operator of his advertising agency in Charlotte, North Carolina. The agency grew and afforded the Hair family (Jon, his wife and their three children) a comfortable lifestyle, but one day, at the age of 50, Jon felt that he had run himself ragged. He once again contemplated the role of fine art in his life and traveled to New York City to take in some arts festivals. At one of those shows, Jon was drawn to an artist who was sculpting African animals. That was it — Jon Hair could see his future.
He went back home and created ten or twelve original pieces that he took to Florida and put on display at street art shows, one of which was in Naples. His efforts met with little success, but, undeterred, he headed across state to Miami. On his drive through Everglades territory, Jon passed a casino owned by the Miccosukee Indian Tribe. Now, here comes the “clever” side of Jon Hair. He noticed that, other than a sign out front, there was nothing visually appealing that would cause a driver to turn into the place, unless that person was an inveterate gambler.
So, Jon Hair the “not-so-starving” artist became Jon Hair the salesman. He turned his car around, drove back to the casino and, with his artistic portfolio under his arm, marched into the casino intent on making a pitch to the man in charge. One of Jon’s favorite sayings is, “The only time people do great things is when they absolutely have to.” This was his ‘absolutely have-to’ moment.
Despite the fact that Native American tribes didn’t usually get cold calls from sculptors, Jon was certain that he could convince the chairman of the Miccosukee Tribe that he needed a Jon Hair creation… and he needed it now!
Those of you who have made cold calls selling anything are probably familiar with the “gatekeeper.” That person’s job is to determine who will get to see the decision maker; in this case, the chairman of the Miccosukee casino — the person who would say yes or no to a Jon Hair monumental creation. On his first try, Jon was told that since he didn’t have an appointment, his chances of seeing the chairman were somewhere between slim and none.
He received the same response on Tuesday and Wednesday that he had gotten on Monday, but Jon Hair was determined to stay there for as long it took. In other words, he planned to wait them out in the lobby — and it worked. On Friday of that week, he was told that the chairman would see him.
Jon got right to the point and described to his one-man audience what he had to offer. After looking at some of the renderings from Hair’s portfolio, the chairman said, “Yeah, we do want a sculpture, but we don’t know any sculptors.” Just minutes after those words were uttered, Jon Hair had been hired and walked out of that Miccosukee casino meeting with a signed contract for $115,000. In the midst of his euphoria, he did pause to wonder what he had gotten himself into, since this would be his first major monument effort.
Since that 1998 creative breakthrough, Jon has produced dozens of huge works of art in a 7,500-square-foot studio in Charlotte, North Carolina. Late this past year, he moved his operation to St. Petersburg, Florida. As the years have passed, Hair’s celebrity has grown, and he regularly receives requests for his artistry from all over the world.
Many of Hair’s pieces — 34 to be exact — now find a home on college and university campuses across the United States. Schools that have commissioned one of his works include Wake Forest, Purdue, Appalachian State and the University of Cincinnati. Another piece commissioned by an Ohio institution of higher learning is a bronze falcon (page 6), which you may recall seeing at Bowling Green State University. It took a year to complete and stands 24 feet tall.
As I mentioned, Hair’s professional life in advertising and sculpting, has been spent primarily in North Carolina, and in the early 2000s, he was approached by a state senator who was also a significant contributor to the U.S. Olympic efforts. He asked Jon to bid on sculpting a major bronze and steel monument that would serve as a welcoming center piece at the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
A meeting with the senator and members of the U.S. Olympic Committee was held at the Broadmoor Resort & Hotel, and after listening to ideas, Jon presented his napkin drawing. It was a rendering of four multiracial athletes, each about 12 feet tall, holding up a bronze globe. The committee loved it and Jon’s design became the first of many Olympic-related pieces that he has created in the US and in China.
Hair has received almost unanimous praise for the monuments over the 15-plus years that he has been working out of his Charlotte studio. However, there is one group that doesn’t have much good to say: the art critics. Jon said that they don’t consider figurative sculpture to be an art form, and added that this critical group of media members seem to work under the belief that, “If it looks good, it can’t be good.” Fortunately, Jon doesn’t create for the critics, so his work, to most who view it, does not just look good, it is jaw-dropping.
Jon is making the move to an 8,000-square-foot facility in St. Petersburg, Florida for several reasons. One reason is that the area has a thriving arts community which he hopes to tap into, and another is even more important — the city of St. Petersburg seemed anxious to have his talents and his business. He plans to work mainly on projects that he wants to tackle, not only those that are commissioned. At the moment, he is working on a oversized sculpture of Fred Rogers; yes, THE Mr. Rogers. When completed it will be delivered to Rogers’ hometown, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he will become everybody’s neighbor.
When the remodeling is finished on his new workspace — and it might be by the time you read this — The Jon Hair Monumental Sculpture Museum will be a “must-see” destination on the Florida Gulf Coast. You will be able to get up close and personal with many of the works that Jon Hair has labored to produce, watch the artist actually at work on one of his masterpieces, and perhaps even pick up a few pointers on how to become a sculptor yourself.
If you can’t wait that long and want to enjoy more of Jon Hair’s sculptures now, just go to his website, www.jonhair.com, and take a virtual tour of what his hands and imagination have created. I’m guessing that you’ll come away agreeing with me that this renaissance man is clever with a capital C.
