Participating Artists

Martin Gates

Biography / Artist Statement

Martin was born in Lebanon, Oregon in 1955.  It wasn’t until 1987 when Martin won his first major competition that he turned to art as a full time career.  Since then he has won numerous awards and exhibited in major shows and museums across the country.  Martin’s work ranges from a life-size Madonna, for the Catholic Church, to tiny hummingbirds.  His carvings have a unique style of abstract shapes and forms and often capture motion with his use of line and mass.

“Mayan Wind”, a life-sized flying macaw, is installed in the Benson Park Sculpture Garden in Loveland, CO and also in Fountain Hills Sculpture Garden in Fountain Hills, AZ.  His carving of a life-size Bald Eagle pulling a bass from the water titled, “Wind, Wings, and Water” was presented to the National Wildlife Federation by the Corporate Conservation Council to celebrate the eagle’s removal from the endangered species list. In 2023, Martin was the silver medal winner at the National Sculpture Society Annual Exhibition with his piece, “IVORY Build Echos, The Wood Remembers”.  In 2025, Martin was an Artist in Residence at the Wallace Sculpture Center at Brookgreen Gardens.  Also in 2025, his bronze, “Green River Dream”, of a leaping trout and moon, was purchased for the permanent collection of Brookgreen Gardens, Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

Martin is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society and a Signature member of Artists for Conservation. He lives in Micanopy, Florida.

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