Kenneth Ford is a British sculptor, is a former Prix de Rome

Prix de Rome

The Prix de Rome was a scholarship for arts students, principally of painting, sculpture, and architecture. It was created, initially for painters and sculptors, in 1663 in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It was an annual bursary for promising artists having proved their talents by...

 winner for Sculpture, in 1955. He previously studied at the Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

 under Frank Dobson

Frank Dobson (sculptor)

Frank Dobson R.A. was a British artist and sculptor.Dobson attended the Hastings School of Art and was then an apprentice in the studio of Sir William Reynolds-Stephens. From 1910 to 1912 he attended the City and Guilds of London Art School in Kennington, South London...

.

He was head of sculpture at Leicester Polytechnic (1967–1988) and a visiting lecturer at the former Frink School

Frink School

The Frink School of Figurative Sculpture was named after Elisabeth Frink , British Sculptor, and was a small intimate academy with a specific discipline of study closer in spirit to a master and apprentice structure than an educational institution...

 of Figurative Sculpture in Tunstall

Tunstall, Staffordshire

Tunstall is an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent....

. In 2010, University of Leicester awarded him an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters for his contribution to the artistic life of Leicestershire and UK.

Public Commissions

In 1961 a competition led to commission for a work to symbolize the re-birth of Newcastle-upon-Tyne after wartime devastation. “Symbol of Rebirth”, celebrates evolution and rebirth, itself evolving from the primitive forms at the base rising to an embryonic form in a pelvic structure. Other public sculpture include the Sir Frank Whittle commemoration in Lutterworth and a 1993 work, “Into Our First World”, at Surrey Heath House at Camberley. This work is popular with the local community and a proposal to move it resulted in much local protest.

Portrait of Ken Ford

Ford agreed to sit for Jon Edgar

Jon Edgar

Jon Edgar is a British artist born in Rustington, West Sussex in 1968, the grandson of British cartoonist Brian White. He direct-carves in wood and stone using methods of improvisation, and works in clay.-Biography:...

in Leicestershire during 2005. A terracotta head exists.