Leroy Almon

American, 1938 - 1997

BiographyWoodcarver Leroy Almon was born in Tallapoosa, Georgia, and grew up in Ohio. After graduation from high school, Almon became a shoe salesman and later an employee of the Coca-Cola Company in Columbus, Ohio. There, at Gay Tabernacle Baptist Church, he befriended Elijah Pierce, the renowned woodcarver. In 1979, when Almon lost his job, he apprenticed himself to Pierce and became "curator" of the artist's barbershop gallery. Initially, the two collaborated on pieces until Almon began creating his own carvings inspired by religion, politics, and history. Almon's artworks begin as preliminary sketches, which are then transferred to softwood panels and carved in low relief with a pocketknife and chisel.

In 1982, Almon returned to his hometown of Tallapoosa, where he restored his boyhood home and converted the basement into a workshop and gallery. In Tallapoosa he became an ordained minister and a nondenominational evangelist, while at the same time working as a police dispatcher. Christianity remained Almon's primary focus, both in his life and his art.

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