Curriculum Vitae
Adam Matano
Sculptor · Los Angeles
Profile
Adam Matano is a Los Angeles–based representational sculptor whose bronzes examine the relationship between humanity and the natural world. Working from direct observation of living subjects, and grounded in classical modeling and anatomy, he creates psychologically dense, rhythmic compositions in which animal and human forms carry contemporary themes of ecology, identity, vulnerability, and coexistence. An early training in music continues to inform the rhythm and structure of his work.
Matano is the lead artist for Earth to City: Rhapsody of the Wild King, the P-22 memorial for Griffith Park in Los Angeles, and the sculptor of the 2026 Brookgreen Medal. He is the recipient of the National Sculpture Society’s Fellowship Award, a Signature Member of the California Art Club, and a Signature Artist of the Society of Animal Artists. He has taught sculpture for more than a decade, at institutions including Laguna College of Art + Design, the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art, Brookgreen Gardens, and Scottsdale Artists’ School.
Career Highlights
Public memorial
Lead artist, Earth to City: Rhapsody of the Wild King, the P-22 memorial for Griffith Park, Los Angeles. Covered by The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and The Guardian.
Museum collections
Sculptor of the 2026 Brookgreen Medal, The Oconee Bell, with editions held by the Smithsonian Institution, the British Museum, the American Numismatic Society, the National Sculpture Society, and Brookgreen Gardens.
National recognition
Fellowship Award, National Sculpture Society, 2026. Elected Member since 2016.
Best in Show, two years running
The Art of Form, National Sculpture Society: Becoming (2026) and Rascal (2025).
Gold Medal for Sculpture
California Art Club 112th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition, Bowers Museum, 2023.
First Place
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition, 2019.
Public Art & Commissions
Earth to City: Rhapsody of the Wild King, the P-22 Memorial
Lead artist. Monumental bronze, 96 × 72 × 24 in. Griffith Park, Los Angeles, CA. Clay original completed 2026; installation anticipated 2027.
The Oconee Bell, the 2026 Brookgreen Medal
Bronze medal, 3 in. Commissioned by Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC.
Andy N. Condor Memorial
Bronze, 40 × 48 × 20 in. Tracy Aviary, Salt Lake City, UT.
Owl Commission
Bronze, 16 × 28 × 19 in. Private collection.
Infinite Reverie
Bronze and steel, 28 × 24 × 18 in. Private commission.
Lion Fountain
Bronze, 24 × 20 × 10 in. Private collection.
Collections
Smithsonian Institution · Washington, DC
The British Museum · London, UK
American Numismatic Society · New York, NY
National Sculpture Society · New York, NY
Brookgreen Gardens · Murrells Inlet, SC
Tracy Aviary · Salt Lake City, UT
The first five institutions hold editions of The Oconee Bell, the 2026 Brookgreen Medal. Works are also held in private collections across the United States.
Honors & Awards
Fellowship Award
National Sculpture Society
Best in Show, Becoming
The Art of Form, National Sculpture Society, Sausalito Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
Best in Show, Rascal
The Art of Form, National Sculpture Society, Sausalito Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
Fine Art Connoisseur Award of Excellence for Sculpture
California Art Club, VEFA Gallery, Torrance, CA
Finalist
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Finalist
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Gold Medal for Sculpture
California Art Club 112th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA
First Place in Sculpture
Beverly Hills Art Show, Beverly Hills, CA
Best Art Display
Beverly Hills Art Show, Beverly Hills, CA
Art Lover’s Choice Award, Rascal
California Art Club
First Place
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Honorable Mention
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Finalist
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Rehs Contemporary Galleries Award
New York, NY
Third Place, Sculpture
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine
Finalist
Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Competition
Third Place
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Honorable Mention
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Finalist
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Finalist
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Marilyn Newmark Grant
National Sculpture Society
Finalist
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Honorable Mention
Art Renewal Center International Salon Competition
Professional Memberships & Distinctions
National Sculpture Society
Fellowship Award, 2026. Elected Member, 2016.
California Art Club
Signature Member, 2017. Artist Member, 2015.
Society of Animal Artists
Signature Artist, 2016.
Residencies, Lectures & Demonstrations
Artist Residency and Artist Talk
Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC
Artist Lecture
Nature Artists’ Guild (online)
“Rhythm of Form,” sculpture demonstration
California Art Club (online)
Guest Artist
California Art Club, Pasadena, CA
Exhibitions
The Art of Form
National Sculpture Society, Sausalito Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
National Sculpture Society 92nd Annual Awards Exhibition
The Rosen Galleries, Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC
Echoes of Yosemite
California Art Club, Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art, Moraga, CA
Society of Animal Artists 65th Annual Exhibition
Monument Arts and Cultural Center, Bennington, VT
The Art of Form: Perspectives from the West
Sausalito Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
114th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, VEFA Gallery, Torrance, CA
Wildlife of Africa
Monument Arts and Cultural Center, Bennington, VT
Art and the Animal
Society of Animal Artists, Sioux City Public Museum, Sioux City, IA
Allied Artists of America 111th Annual Exhibition
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
112th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA
Artist’s Choice Exhibition
American Legacy Fine Arts, Pasadena, CA
111th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CA
Artist’s Choice Exhibition
American Legacy Fine Arts, Pasadena, CA
Beverly Hills Art Show
Beverly Hills, CA
110th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Hilbert Museum of California Art, Orange, CA
Lucid Dreaming
Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Blood and Fire III: Ravens and Wolves
Long Beach, CA
109th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Hilbert Museum of California Art, Orange, CA
Midnight Garden
Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Group exhibition
Rehs Contemporary, New York, NY
Contemporary California Sculpture
Sparks Gallery, San Diego, CA
Birds in Art
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau, WI
Emerging Stars in American Sculpture
Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, SC
108th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, CA
California Sculpture: Works from Southern and Northern California
National Sculpture Society Gallery, New York, NY
The Art of Animal Sculpture
Bonita Museum, San Diego, CA
Searching for the Real III, faculty exhibition
Laguna College of Art + Design, Laguna Beach, CA
Art Renewal Center 13th Annual Exhibition
Sotheby’s, Los Angeles, CA
107th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA
A Collector’s Feast
American Legacy Fine Arts, Pasadena, CA
LAAFA Faculty Exhibition
Rebecca Molayem Gallery, Hollywood, CA
Searching for the Real II, faculty exhibition
Laguna College of Art + Design, Laguna Beach, CA
106th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA
National Sculpture Society group exhibition
Sparks Gallery, San Diego, CA
Faculty exhibition
Brentwood Art Center, Santa Monica, CA
105th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
California Art Club, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA
A Spectrum Art Show
SD Contemporary Art Fair, San Diego, CA
Faculty exhibition
Brentwood Art Center, Santa Monica, CA
All Creatures Great and Small
National Sculpture Society, Naples, FL
Faculty exhibition
Brentwood Art Center, Santa Monica, CA
Sudden Impact
11:11 ACC Gallery, Tarzana, CA
Harmony Project Silent Auction
Santa Monica, CA
The Animal Kingdom
Nucleus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Teaching
Scottsdale Artists’ School
Workshop instructor. Scottsdale, AZ.
Brookgreen Gardens
Sculpture workshop instructor, 2021–2023 and 2025–2026. Murrells Inlet, SC.
Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD)
Instructor: Animal Sculpture (2018–2020, 2023), Moldmaking (2018), Human Figure and Portrait Sculpture (2024), Fantasy Sculpture (2025). Laguna Beach, CA.
Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art (LAAFA)
Instructor: Animal Sculpture and summer workshop (2017), Figure Sculpture (2018–2020, 2022). Los Angeles, CA.
Brentwood Art Center
Sculpture Instructor. Santa Monica, CA.
Adam Matano Sculpture, studio classes and workshops
Ongoing instruction at the artist’s studio. Los Angeles, CA.
Online sculpture workshops
Offered through adammatano.com.
Autry Museum of the American West
Animal Sculpture workshop. Los Angeles, CA.
Teale Street Sculpture Studio
Sculpture Instructor. California.
Press
The New York Times
“A Beloved Los Angeles Mountain Lion Will Live Forever in Bronze”
Los Angeles Times
“Bringing the ‘Wild King’ home: P-22 mountain lion statue coming to Griffith Park”
The Guardian
“Los Angeles to memorialize late mountain lion P-22 with sculpture in Griffith Park”
NBC Los Angeles
“Griffith Park statue of Hollywood mountain lion P-22 is taking shape”
NBC Los Angeles, The Scene
“A statue celebrating P-22 is headed to the Griffith Park Visitor Center”
KTLA
“Statue honoring famed mountain lion P-22 coming to Griffith Park”
FOX 11 Los Angeles
“P-22 statue coming to Griffith Park” (television)
SFGATE
“California’s famed P-22 will be forever immortalized with a $250,000 statue”
SFGATE
“A Local Love Letter to a Lost Celebrity”
Spectrum News 1 SoCal
“To honor P-22, a sculpture fit for a king will be placed in Griffith Park”
Beverly Press
“Mountain lion P-22 will return to Griffith Park”
Canyon News
“Mountain Lion P-22 Statue Coming To Griffith Park”
KCRW
Video feature on the P-22 memorial
LA Daily (Chinese-language)
Feature on the P-22 memorial
Charleston Business Magazine
“Brookgreen Gardens Celebrates the 2026 Brookgreen Medal: The Oconee Bell by Adam Matano”
Holy City Sinner
“The Oconee Bell”
Georgetown Gazette
“The Oconee Bell”
New Masters Academy
Interview with Adam Matano
Los Angeles Daily News
“Los Angeles Puma P-22 is getting ready for final close-up: A bronze to be unveiled in 2026”
“Lincoln Heights sculptor’s ‘dream job’ honors beloved mountain lion P-22”
Sausalito Center for the Arts
Robin R. Salmon Prize
The Art of Form: Perspectives from the West
California Art Club
Annual Gold Medal Exhibition
National Sculpture Society
“Adam Matano, NSS”
FOX 13 Utah
“Statue honoring ‘celebirdy’ Andy N. Condor unveiled at Tracy Aviary”
KSL NewsRadio
“Tracy Aviary unveiling new sculpture in honor of Andy N. Condor”
2022 Beverly Hills Art Show
Forbes
“Taking Fight” Showcase
Fine Art Connoisseur
California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition
Beautiful Bizarre
Interview, “Mending With Other Species”
Fine Art Connoisseur
October 2019, p. 97
American Art Collector
American Legacy Fine Arts, November 2018
California Art Club
Artist profile, Fall issue
Pacifico Magazine
“National Sculpture Society, Sparks Gallery,” San Diego, CA
Zoo View, Los Angeles Zoo
“Zoo Sketchbook,” Summer issue, p. 14
Art Design Catalog, Spain
“Adam Matano’s Animal Sculptures”
Sculpture Review
“Headfirst: A New Generation of Figurative Sculptors,” Winter 2012, pp. 8–17. National Sculpture Society
Sculpture Review
“Humor in Sculpture,” Fall 2011, pp. 21–23. National Sculpture Society
Artes Magazine
“Connecticut’s Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts Trains a New Generation of Artists,” June 13, 2010
Artscope Magazine
“Roundtable: Three Professionals. One Question,” May/June 2010
American Artist
“Sculpture Competition Awards Announced,” October 2009, p. 15
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, Old Lyme, CT
