University Hall (courtesy of Ohio Wesleyan University)
Columbus-area sculptor Alfred Tibor will speak about “Anti-Semitism in the Second World War” during a free public presentation March 16 at Ohio Wesleyan University. Tibor will speak at 7:30 p.m. in Gray Chapel in University Hall
A native of Hungary, Tibor was drafted into a forced German labor battalion on the Eastern Front during World War II, and then was captured by the Russians and spent five years in a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia. After the war, he returned to Budapest, where he discovered that he and one brother were the only survivors in his family.
In 1956, Tibor fled from Hungary through Austria, arriving in the United States in 1957. In 1972, he moved to Columbus and began creating sculptures made of marble, alabaster, bronze, cold cast bronze, aluminum, and resin.
“As a Holocaust survivor, I believe that my life was spared to do my work so people may enjoy it,” Tibor said. “Whether it is one of my Holocaust sculptures, a biblical figure, or a woman standing proud and tall, the human aspect of the piece is what is being expressed to the viewer – that there is beauty and value to be found in all our lives, for I truly believe that life is a celebration.”
Tibor has had more than 64 exhibitions worldwide, with more than 475 pieces in private collections and museums. He has completed more than 35 major outdoor commissions. He received the Arts Freedom Award from the South Side Settlement House in Columbus and Huntington Bank for utilizing his talents “to elevate the human condition” and to improve the community. He also earned the 2005 Ohioana Pegasus Award from the State of Ohio and the Ohio Senate for his prominent role in cultural affairs and in the educational development of the community.
