Dick Perry (1934-2021) was born into a family of artists in San Gabriel, California. At 16, he could be found surfing at Dana Point and making his own surf boards out of balsa in his family's backyard. In the early 1950s he worked along side Renny Yater making boards for Hobie and Dale Velzy. In 1959 the two of them started their own business making boards in Santa Barbara, Dick took the iconic photograph of Renny standing in front of that the legendary surf shop.

In 1964, Perry moved to Pleasure Point in Santa Cruz, where he worked with Jack O'Neill, shaping and glassing boards in O'Neill's original shop on 41st Avenue. Santa Cruz is where Perry met artist and fellow surfer Olaf Palm and together they formed the artists' collective, Cupola. During this creative period, Perry started making welded steel assemblages, and explored bronze, stone, wood, fiberglass and plaster as viable materials for his sculptural works.

In 1975 Dick and his family followed good friend Olaf Palm "back to the land" purchasing property in Comptche California in rural Mendocino County. In the early 1980s Perry acquired a large studio space in the downtown Fort Bragg California, this studio is where most of this collection was created.

Perry's work has been shown at the Mendocino Art Center, in the 1970s, at a gallery in San Franciscos Mission District. Most of his work is held in private collections throughout California. However, he was mostly known along the Mendocino Coast for his handcrafted surfboards that are still coveted by the local surf community. In the late 1990s, he and his wife moved to Hanalei Bay, Kauai were he continued to surf and sculpt.

This is the first time his work has been offered to the public in over 30 years, and the Larry Spring Museum is honored to introduce his collection to a broader audience. Deep gratitude to Dick Perry's sister Marta McKenzie for making this auction possible.

The Larry Spring Museum is an artist-run organization (501c3), situated in its original 1950s storefront on Redwood Avenue in Fort Bragg California. The museum is a unique piece of Fort Bragg history, sustaining Larry Spring's collection, creating dynamic accessible programming and where community engages through collaborative action.

visit us at:

larryspringmuseum.org

email:

director@larryspringmuseum.org

The Sculpture of Dick Perry

By Larry Spring Museum

The Sculpture of Dick Perry

A silent auction benefiting The Larry Spring Museum of Common Sense Physics