The Works of Corrado Parducci, Sculptor, In and Around Grand Rapids

by Dale Carlson

Dale Carlson recently authored a book about the life and work of Detroit based Italian-American architectural sculptor, Corrado Parducci (1900-1981), who comes from an important lineage of American architectural and monumental sculptors who trace their roots to the very important New York City scene centered around MacDougal Alley at the turn of the 19th to 20th Century.

Grand Rapids is a significant community for Parducci works, most notably for the carved stone reliefs on the facades of the Grand Rapids Civic Auditorium (1932) at 255 Lyon St NW and the Grand Rapids Trust Company Building (1926) at 61-77 Monroe Center SW. Also, my research suggests very strongly the possibility of Parducci modeling during his apprenticeship years the sculpture found upon the facade of the Michigan Bell Building at 114 Division Ave N. While difficult to prove, the dearth of known apprenticeship era Parducci works makes these examples especially interesting to consider. All three of these important constructions were designed or co-designed by the Detroit based architectural firm of Smith, Hinchman & Grylls, for whom Parducci executed numerous commissions over the course of his 50+ year career.

Another interesting angle worthy of closer examination is the well documented involvement of Parducci's brother, Rudolph, in the execution of the Welsh Auditorium sculpture. Rudolph is known to have worked with his brother for the limited duration of 1929 to 1936 and proven cases of the two working intandem are few. Rudolph's involvement in this particular project is proven beyond any doubt by the surprisingly thorough account of the Parducci brother's local work found in the June 21, 1932 edition of the Grand Rapids. In addition to all of the aforementioned works within Grand Rapids' city limits, Parducci also created sculpture for significant structures in the satellite communities of Muskegon, Greenville, Westphalia and Kalamazoo, so there is no shortage of pertinent material with which to fill a presentation focusing on his area work.

For more information please see the following websites:

https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-corradoparducci-12608#transcript

https://www.amazon.com/Corrado-Parducci-Detroits-Architectural-Sculptor/ dp/1735793507/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1604807164&refinements=p_27% 3ADale+A.+Carlson+with+Einar+E.+Kvaran&s=books&sr=1- 1&text=Dale+A.+Carlson+with+Einar+E.+Kvaran

https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/2020/12/04/dale-carlson-on-corradoparducci/

https://sites.google.com/emich.edu/gerganoffparducciemutour/home

Author, photographer and architectural historian Dale A. Carlson was born and raised along the northeastern shores of Lake Michigan where, as an adolescent, he developed a fascination with the city of Detroit. Throughout the 1990s Mr. Carlson studied art, journalism and graphic design at four Michigan colleges including Michigan State University, while simultaneously migrating closer and closer to the Detroit Metro Area. In 2004 he made southeast Oakland County his permanent home, and in 2019 he earned an associate degree in photographic technology from Oakland Community College. He serves on the City of Berkley’s Historical Committee and is the author of Corrado Parducci: A Field Guide to Detroit’s Architectural Sculptor. His latest project, Kahn’s Detroit: A Field Guide to Albert Kahn Designs of the Metro Area, will showcase 300 extant Kahn designs in southeast Michigan and be published in the coming months. Mr. Carlson will also publish a field guide to stained glass of the New Orleans metropolis in late 2021 and he calls the city his second home. He credits his late wife, Carolin Venegas Jones, whom he married in 2014, for inspiring his ventures into publishing and photography.

“The Works of Corrado Parducci, Sculptor, In and Around Grand Rapids,” by Dale Carlson, Thursday, October 14 , 2021, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.

Be sure to visit our Grand Rapids Historical Society YouTube channel to view the recorded presentation at: https://youtu.be/cCm4ZV9AC0I