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Sculptor Jerry Soble puts some finishing touches on his piece entitled, "Control 3."
Communally Active Jerry Soble
Concentrates On Sculpture
JUDY MARX
Special to The Jewish News
W
,
hen sculptor Jerry
Soble looks at his
own image, what he
hopes to see is "a guardian of
our heritage."
"We're none of us, 'self-
made' men or women," he in-
sists. "Certainly, 'self-made'
individuals have had to app-
ly themselves, but the educa-
tional, cultural and moral
systems were already in place
for them, and all they did was
take advantage of what was
there."
Soble feels that we've all
"taken from the community"
and, therefore, must feel the
responsibility of "paying
back."
"I promised myself years
ago that I would do whatever
I could — monetarily and
physically — to justify my ex-
istence. It's a debt I take very
seriously."
A native Detroiter, Soble in-
herited a family tradition of
commitment to the communi-
ty, which, as a youngster, he
observed in his parents,
Goldie and Harold.
A graduate of Central High
School and the Detroit In-
stitute of Technology, young
Soble was interested in art
from his earliest years. Yet,
he chose to follow in his dad's
footsteps and become a phar-
macist, and "I'm not sorry."
The family pharmacies and
construction business "have
afforded me a very good life,"
Soble admits. "In my 30s I
strove to develop into the type
of artist I wanted to be for the
rest of my life, and now that
I am in a position where I
function in a supervisory
capacity in my business, I
have the luxury of devoting
much of my time to art. It's
something I've worked
towards all my life."
Soble likes his art to repre-
sent themes and sees some of
his favorite pieces as
allegories. "I'm a pro-
feminist," a message which is
clearly evident in a sculpture
behind his home, a large
bronze which he calls "Avdoot
(Bondage)."
"My wife, Marilyn, is the
best thing that ever happen-
ed to me," Soble says in no
uncertain terms. The pair
met in Charlevoix in 1948,
and Soble, who admits to be-
ing an incurable romantic,
says that "it was love at first
sight."
He calls Marilyn a "very
talented artist in her own
right." Once a painter and a
sculptor, "Marilyn has always
made sure that our children
— and now our grandchildren
— have been exposed to the
arts."
Michele, their oldest, lives
in Seattle. Mitchel has an
arts and carfts gallery in New
York City. Melissa, a senior at
University of Michigan —
Dearborn, will be going into
law, and Marc is an attorney
in Detroit. Grandparents of
Erin and Kati, the Sobles
have become familiar figures
at Detroit Country Day
School, after 10-year-old Erin
first announced to her
classmates last year that her
grandpa should come to her
art class since he was a
sculptor.
"We sculpted heads, and I
taught them how to create
the figures, how to measure
and get proper dimensions,
but I also emphasized
something that was taught to
me many, many years ago,
and that is "you have to look
to see," Soble explained. "We
all look, but you have to learn
how to see. Some of these kids
were so talented. I think I got
more out of it than they did."
Soble said he believes that
"we are living in a time of art
awareness," and through
television, museums and
galleries, many children are
being exposed to the world of
art at young ages. "But at the
same time, because of the
fiscal crunch, we know that in
the inner cities they're taking
away fine arts programs. If
these youngsters were depriv-
ed of baseball or football,
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