Tom's Life Bits

Artist Carl Regutti takes an inventive approach to sculpting

Sculptor Carl Regutti works in a studio at his home in Cary on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial Sculpture, one of his more notable works which now sits in downtown Raleigh.

Visitors to the Amtrak station in Cary pass by the popular “Railroad Man,” a 1997 metal sculpture Carl Regutti created through a public-private partnership.

BY MATT GOAD, Correspondent
CARY - From the outside, the only hint of the work that takes place in the lower level of Carl Regutti's home in northeast Cary is the license plate on the minivan: “I SCUPLT.”

Regutti's life-sized sculptures appear across the South from Kentucky and Georgia to downtown Raleigh and several locations in Cary.

But none adorn his yard and only smaller ones stand in his home studio.

Regutti says he likes for his work to sit in public places, where others can enjoy it. And considering that some pieces go for hundreds of thousands of dollars, it would be hard to let one sit around if someone wanted to buy it.

But it's still a point of contention between Regutti and his wife, Grace. “I've been waiting for him to do something for 20 years,” she said, “but he's never done it. So I have to be content to look at what's inside.”

Regutti came to art late in life after a successful career as a scientist and businessman - one that included several patented inventions.

Regutti's father and grandfather both made their living as artists. His father was a portrait artist and his grandfather painted murals in his native Italy and the United States after he immigrated.

“I inherited talent. It was in my genes,” said Regutti, 75.

But his family pushed him to go into a more traditional field, so he studied bacteriology at the University of Pittsburgh, where he also received a master's in business administration.

At the age of 45, Regutti's interest in art began to take shape, and he started sculpting in his free time. A few years later he made a momentous decision.

“When I was about 48 years old, I just got tired of the corporate world and went with what I really wanted to do, which is sculpting,” he said.

His wife had no problem backing his decision. “The kids were pretty well grown,” she explained. “I don't think it would have been a good idea when they were younger, but I was working at the time, and I knew he was talented.”

The Reguttis were living in the Cleveland area at the time, but they decided that with his new line of work, they could live wherever they wanted. They chose Cary because of the milder climate and access to the industrial materials he needed for his work. It also was a slower pace than life up north.

An inventive approach

He started with ceramic images of wildlife, but soon moved onto bronze. His most renowned work is still in bronze, but he works in several mediums now.

He drew on his scientific background to invent whole new techniques, including his work coloring stainless steel that is durable in coastal salt spray and pioneering methods to sculpt in brick.

When he describes his work, he sometimes has to be careful not to give away any “trade secrets.”

One of his earliest major projects was a life-size statue of Aristides, the first winner of the Kentucky Derby, which now graces Churchill Downs in Louisville. It is the only life-size statue at the famous horse track.

Notable works in Cary include a bust of Koka Booth at the amphitheater that bears the former mayor's name; “The Railroad Man” at the downtown train station; and a bust of Cary native, journalist and diplomat Walter Hines Page at the Town Hall campus.

Downtown Raleigh is the site of Regutti's most ambitious project, the N.C. Fallen Firefighters memorial “Heroism and Sacrifice,” a life-size bronze of four firefighters in a collapsed building scene.

A historical interest

The Sons of Confederate Veterans commissioned Regutti to do a larger-than-life-size statue of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston adjacent to Bentonville Battleground State Historic Site in Johnston County. Depicting Johnston pointing for his army to charge, it is the only statue of a Confederate general erected in North Carolina.

John Booker of Smithfield served as the Sons of Confederate Veterans liaison on the Johnston project.

He said he couldn't believe the attention to detail Regutti put into his work, going to museums to research his subject and working with a re-enactor dressed as Johnston.

“He wants to know how a man thinks so he can get the expression just right,” Booker said.

Regutti's interest in history really shows in the final product, Booker added. “You put it on a scale of one to 100, I was hoping to get an 85. We got 99.99,” he said. “And we're not through. Carl's been paid, and he's still helping.”

Regutti has assisted the organization by creating small bas-relief art to go with the statue for awards and fundraising, plus teaching members techniques for proper conservation and preservation treatment.

He envisions creating a series of monuments to commemorate Johnston's battles with Union Gen. William Sherman's army in the Carolinas.

Fellow sculptor Joel Hass of Raleigh, who has known Regutti for 25 years, said his friend belies the popular image of the starving, reclusive artist.

Professional sculptors are business people, Hass said, noting that Michelangelo employed hundreds of workers to transport marble.

An artist working on sculptures the size of Regutti's must manage a project, keeping in communication with investors and keeping the books.

When the economy turned sour in recent years, funding for bigger projects dried up. Regutti is working to line up some future projects, but in the meantime he hasn't been idle.

He's turned to his science background once again, working on an invention that he can't comment on while it is in progress for fear of having his idea stolen.

This project sits covered up in his studio for now.

Correspondent Marti Maguire contributed to this report.