Auction of Teacher's Heisman Sculpture
Inspires Gift for Art & Design High School

Sculptor Frank Eliscu may have been best known as the man who designed and created the Heisman Trophy, but to graduates of the High School of Art and Design (formerly known as the School of Industrial Art) he was a beloved and revered art teacher.
____The original plaster cast of the famed college football trophy was set to be auctioned off at Sotheby's in New York City on Saturday, December 10th, and expected to fetch $200,000 to $300,000. But the school where Eliscu taught for over 30 years has no work by their famous teacher and could never afford to buy the signed and dated piece.


After the historical Army-Notre Dame game, Wally Fromhart, Don Eiser and Wayne Millner of Notre Dame pass their approval on the D.A.C. trophy. Bill Prince explains the award while sculptor Frank Eliscu, on the left, makes finishing touches on the clay model.

"We would have loved for a philanthropic bidder to buy the piece and donate it to our school," said Alumni Association president, Yvonne Fitzner. "But we are being blessed with a special gift from his family." Indeed, upon learning that the public high school had no memento of the man whose creations grace museums and institutions across the nation, the Estate of Frank Eliscu will be donating a slate and a sculpture - representing his life's work - to the High School of Art and Design for a permanent exhibit.
____The works of art were shipped to Art &Design in February, with a reception set for the school's Kenny Gallery, to honor the late sculptor and teacher. Norma Banas, Eliscu's daughter, who is retired and lives in Florida, hopes to attend.
____Frank Eliscu was 23 years old, a graduate of Pratt Institute and a National Academy Prize winner when, in 1935, he was commissioned to design a trophy for the Downtown Athletic Club. Originally called the DAC trophy, it was renamed the Heisman Memorial Trophy when the DAC's athletic director, John Heisman, passed away a year later.
____He taught at the School of Industrial Art from 1936 to 1942 and, following his service in the Army, returned and received his certification in 1946. He continued teaching at the school after it changed its name to the High School of Art and Design and retired on December 1, 1972.
____While the Heisman was Frank Eliscu's best-known work, he created many larger bronze sculptures for banks, office buildings, libraries and houses of worship. His tallest creation, "Cascade of Books," is a five-story bronze screen that was installed above the entrance to the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress, in Washington, D.C. He also designed the inaugural medals for President Gerald R. Ford and Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller, the state gift for the late Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, engravings for six glass works produced by Steuben, two pins for Tiffany & Co., and many more wonderful works of art.
____The plaster cast of the Heisman Trophy remained on Frank Eliscu's desk until his passing. He died on June 19, 1996, in Sarasota, Florida.

(For more information on his work and his life, please visit frankeliscu.com.)