Sculptor, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was assistant to sculptor Gutzon Borglum in the creation of the National Monument at Mount Rushmore. In 1948 Ziolkowski began his own life-work, the carving out of a granite mountain (near Custer, SD), a 563 ft high statue of Sioux warrior Crazy Horse, as a memorial to the American Indians. It was intended to surpass Mt Rushmore (22 mi away) in size and stand as the single largest work of sculpture in the world. He founded the non-profit Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation Commission, and after his death, several of his 10 children worked to finish the gigantic project.
Korczak Ziółkowski (born September 6, 1908, in Boston - died October 20, 1982, in Crazy Horse, South Dakota) was an American sculptor of Crazy Horse Memorial.
No one knows whether his family relates to the noble clan Korczak, as his given name suggests, but if so, his surname Ziółkowski was given this coat of arms in 1500, in Kraków, Poland.
Ziolkowski, a Polish American, was born exactly 34 years after the death of Crazy Horse on September 6, 1908, to Polish parents in Boston.
Ziołkowski moved to West Hartford, Connecticut, to begin life as a professional artist. he began to sell commissioned sculpture throughout New England, Boston, and New York.
In 1939 his marble sculpture of Ignacy Jan Paderewski won first prize at the New York World’s Fair. The notarity as well as his familiarity with the Black Hills prompted several Lakota Chiefs to approach him about a monument honoring Native Americans. Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Lakota wrote to him saying, “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes, too.”
Korczak met with the leaders shortly afterward and began planning a monument.
Korczak put the project on hold when the United States entered World War II.
In 1947 Ziołkowski moved to the Black Hills, and began to search for a suitable mountain for his sculpture. Korczak thought the Wyoming Tetons would be the best choice, where the rock would be better for carving, but the Lakota wanted the memorial in the sacred Black Hills on a 600-foot high mountain.
On June 3, 1948, the first blast was made and the memorial was dedicated to the Native American people.
Korczak continued his work until he died of a heart attack at the monument site in 1982. After his death, his wife Ruth took over the project as director of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. Seven of his ten children have continued the carving of the monument or are active in the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.
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