The Artist
Paul Buckner was born in 1933 in Seattle, Washington. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Washington, and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California. He spent a year of advanced study at the Slade School, University College, London, as a Fulbright scholar in 1961-62. He also served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Korean War.
Buckner joined the University of Oregon faculty in 1962 and retired in June 1995. He was head of the sculpture department during much of his tenure. His thirty-three years of teaching and sculptural practice influenced the program and its students. As he said, “the forms of the human figure are source enough for a life’s work.”
His creative work can be seen across the region in over twenty-five collections including Timberline Lodge; Olympic College, Bremerton, Washington; Salem Civic Center; University of Oregon Museum of Art, Eugene; Scripps College, Claremont, California; and numerous ecclesiastical and private collections. Mr. Buckner passed away on February 1, 2014.
Read the transcript of Paul’s presentation in this article.
The Stations of the Cross
In the 3rd – 13th centuries, returning veterans and pilgrims of the Crusades promoted the idea of erecting replicas of the stations of the cross for those who could not make the journey to Jerusalem. Some Italian and French communities had as many as 37 stations, but the Catholic Church set the number at 14 in the 16th century.
In August of 1977, Mr. Buckner presented a clay model of one of the Stations of the Cross to the Liturgical Arts Committee for their consideration. His design was accepted, and the project was formally commissioned later that year. By 1978, two of the stations had been spoken for as memorials in memory of William W.W. Stubbs and Frank Conway. The remaining twelve stations received commitments the following year.
Buckner worked on the project with his son, Matthew, who was 21-years old at the time. They are carved from Eastern Cherry with all of the work done by hand with sculptors’ gouges. Matthew carved many of the backgrounds and architectural features while Paul carved all of the figures. Buckner originally thought each station would take between four days and a week to carve, but at the end of five weeks, when the first station was finally complete, he realized his timeline had to be adjusted. The project took 18 months to complete, with the stations installed by Holy Week, 1981.
Buckner’s intent was to show the reality of the human event: the physical and emotional exhaustion of Jesus, the sorrow of his followers, the excruciating pain.
The Stations of the Cross were formally dedicated on April 7, 1982, a year after their completion. St. Mary’s had been served by interim priests in 1981, so the dedication service was planned after their permanent Rector, Fr. Ted Berktold, was installed.
