Pictures of Jerry's sculpture[Click]

(Sheila Nuss, Fall 2008)

Gerald Lynch was a twentieth century American sculptor whose life spanned the years 1944 to 2000. For Lynch, his vocation as a sculptor was a sacred calling: "I perceive marble as a sacred medium 'earth bone' formed hundreds of millions of years ago and the experience of carving it, although physically demanding, as a spiritual one & it is an honor to be a stone carver."(Crews Archive)

The Noyes Museum's founding director, Anne R. Fabbi, testified, "Jerry worshipped the stone that was his medium and often told me about going up into the white marble mountains of Carrarra, Italy, following the route that had been taken by Michelangelo and pausing to feel the inner voice of the site itself. In fact, he always wore around his neck a small piece of marble from that same site, carefully preserved in a leather pouch."(Crews Archive) Lynch made his earliest attempts at sculpture as a boy, hand-carving little birds. His influences included Michelangelo, Rodin, Brancusi and Van Gogh.

Gerald Lynch received a B.A. in philosophy from Maryknoll Seminary College and studied painting and sculpture at the Philadelphia College of Art. Lynch was an apprentice stone carver at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Lynch practiced marble carving at Romanelli Studio in Florence, Italy and Palla Studios in Pietrasanta, Italy.

Lynch has exhibited extensively. Selected exhibitions include shows at Gloucester County College, the City of Clifton Sculpture Park, Stedman Gallery, Eagle Mountain Gallery and Sculpture Garden, Loveland Museum, Mercer County College, Ocean City Arts Center, Noyes Museum, Orangery Gallery, South Jersey Artists Invitational, New Jersey Foundation of the Arts and Sciences, Artists Equity Association Invitational, The Federal Reserve Bank, and Eisenwerk Gallery.

Lynch has executed many commissions including the Holocaust Memorial of Brigantine, New Jersey; "The Family," commissioned by Cape May Count's Crest Haven Nursing Home; a concrete wall relief for Atlantic City's Tropicana Transportation Center; sculptures and stone carvings commissioned by the National Cathedral; a life-sized marble carving of St. John Neumann commissioned by the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia; and numerous private commissions. Lynch's public sculptures can also be found in southern New Jersey at Cape May County Social Services Building, Atlantic Cape Community College's Cape May Campus, Wheaton Village of Millville, New Jersey and the United Methodist Church of Cape May.

Lynch's work is in public and private collections including The Noyes Museum, The City of Livingston, Semeco Gallery Collection of Contemporary International Art, and Cape May County, New Jersey. Lynch was a sculptor-in-residence at Wheaton Village in Millville, New Jersey and at the Carving Studio in Rutland, Vermont. He taught marble carving for six years at the National Marble Carving Symposium in Marble, Colorado.

Lynch has been profiled in numerous publications and the documentary, Gerald Lynch: Sculptor, is based on his life. Gerald Lynch: Sculptor received the Susan Sarandon Award at the Cape May New Jersey State Film Festival. Lynch has been honored for his sculptural triumphs by the Congress of the United States and Congressman William Hughes. In addition to his lifetime of achievement as an artist, Lynch has served his country as a Viet Nam veteran.

Lynch's last body of work was a series of more than 100 sculptures dedicated to the theme of the Earth Goddess.(Crews archive). This impressive and masterful body of work was executed after Lynch suffered a stroke in the 1980s.

Gerald Lynch has been a lasting source of inspiration for those fortunate enough to have known him; immediately after his passing, his wife and best friend artist Cheryl Crews founded a non-profit organization, The Aquarian Project, dedicated to the preservation and promotion of his work. Tragically, vandals broke into Lynch's studio and damaged many of his works in 2006. Volunteers and donations for the restoration of the works are needed. Donations to the Aquarian Project can be sent care of

Cheryl Crews
107 Matthews Avenue,
Villas, New Jersey 08251

Lynch's studio is open for viewing by appointment: (609) 886-9261. Volunteers and fund-raising efforts for the benefit of the Aquarian Project are welcome.