SCULPTOR SHAPES A NEW CAREER - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) - April 24, 1994 - page W-1
April 24, 1994 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) | DAVID TEMPLETON, POST-GAZETTE STAFF WRITER | Page W-1

After surviving a serious motorcycle accident 3 1/2 years ago, the founder of a Washington-based pizza
franchise decided to mold his future with clay rather than dough.
Alan Cottrill's new-found career as an accomplished sculptor is now taking shape with exhibits, teaching
opportunities and major commissions from California University of Pennsylvania and others.
"I wanted to do something that would outlast me, and if you sculpt in bronze, then you are doing something
that will outlast you," said the 41- year-old Washington resident. "It became my life passion. It's like falling in
love. It just happens."
Cottrill is now working on a sculpture that promises to be his signature piece.
California University has commissioned him to sculpt 40-by-40-foot work that will include 15 figures and
adorn the outside wall of the university's World Culture Building.
The sculpture will depict people "building on previous generations, starting with Cro-Magnon man and
leading to the crowning figure -- a female astronaut," Cottrill said.
The theme combines the ascent of man and growth of the university.
"This is not a project for the timid," he said.
''It gives me an arena to make huge, emotionally expressive figures, which is exhilarating and what I want to
do -- humans expressing deep, strong
emotions."
Cottrill has already completed a one-tenth-size maquette. He now is sculpting a one-fifth-size model that will
be unveiled June 10 during a president's black-tie dinner to mark the beginning of the university's first capital
campaign.
University President Angelo Armenti Jr. said he hopes the model will draw private donations to complete the
sculpture -- a goal he's confident of achieving. When the one-tenth-size maquette was unveiled to the
university board of directors, "It took your breath away," Armenti said.
"I think this will put (Cottrill) on the map nationally," Armenti said. ''This will be very exciting. I predict the
piece will create a stir in the art community."
Armenti said he first saw Cottrill's work at a Reed Hall exhibit and was impressed by a life-size portrait of
university art Professor David Olson. Olson, attending the exhibit, placed his glasses on the sculpture to show
how accurate the sculpture was, Armenti said.
Soon after, Cottrill was commissioned to complete a bronze sculpture of university benefactor Dr. Robert
Eberly that now stands at the university
entrance.
Armenti said he's been troubled by the barren brick wall of the World Culture Building, and asked university
art professors to offer ideas. They turned to Cottrill to propose a sculpture that could be attached to the wall,
and become a focal point for the entire campus.
"My training is in physics, not art, but my interest is in improving the quality of life on campus," Armenti said.
"What this will do is make that part of the campus more hospitable. People will want to sit there and look at

it. My goal is to close that area of campus to traffic and make it a pedestrian mall."
Cottrill has been working six months on the project, and is expected to complete it in another 18 months.
Working at a university studio, he is seeking advice from university artists and allowing students to watch the
creative process unfold.
"Alan is a man who will charge forward and never look back," said Ray Dunlevy, Cottrill's friend who teaches
painting and drawing at the university. Dunlevy said he talks to Cottrill daily about the sculpture and has
offered advice on design. Cottrill is "someone to look out for," he said.
Cottrill founded Four Star Pizza, an international pizza franchise. He still owns the Washington pizza shop and
holds financial interest in shops in Bermuda.
Cottrill said his quick rise in art stems from round-the-clock energy he has devoted to sculpting ever since he
overcame glaucoma and the injuries he sustained in the motorcycle accident.
He traveled the world to study classical and Renaissance sculpture. He has attended the Students Art League
in New York City, and studied anatomy from cadavers at Columbia Medical Center. It's the only class in the
nation in which cadavers are dissected for the benefit of artists.
"I want to know the figure from the crown of the head to the plantar region of the foot," Cottrill said.
Cottrill's university commissions are just one sign he's carving a name for
himself in the world of sculpture. He currently has a 60-piece exhibit at the Zanesville Art Center in Ohio, and
is preparing for an exhibit in May at Gallery 200 in Washington.
He will demonstrate sculpting on April 30 at the Sulkowski Academy of Fine Arts in Houston, where he will
teach classes in May on sculpting the head and figure.
"I think he's a very good sculptor in the classical sense," said Canonsburg artist James Sulkowski, who
founded the academy. "I think he has the power of Rodin as well as the grace of Degas. His work is singularly
expressive because he brings his enthusiasm and passion to the arts."
Cottrill predicts that abstract sculpture will soon become an insignificant ''blip" in art history. Sculpting heads
and figures in a figurative style is more universal and spans the generations, he said.
Man, he said, will always be making his own image, interpreting himself and searching for new ways to
portray the human figure. For proof, consider the pizza magnate who has chiseled out a promising new
career in sculpture.
"Maybe I have too big of an ego, and I'm too honest," Cottrill said. ''But my long-term goal is to be the best
sculptor in the world."
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CITATION (APA STYLE)
TEMPLETON, D. (1994, April 24). SCULPTOR SHAPES A NEW CAREER. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) , pp. W-1. Available from
NewsBank: America's News: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?
p=NewsBank&docref=news/0EADEFBDCE0A14C0.
Copyright (c) 1994 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette