A Spectacular Walk Through Seminole History with Bronze by Cooley
Previously, we have explored how Seminole history and leaders have inspired and influenced non-Seminole artists through music, painting, and other mediums. In particular, we have looked at the legacy of Guy LaBree, who for decades worked closely with Tribal Members and leaders to faithfully and accurately depict Seminole history and legends. This week, we look at another important artistic duo, who for decades have immortalized Seminole history in bronze.
Join us as we look at the bronze statues of the late Bradley Cooley Sr., and his son Bradley Cooley Jr. This father-son duo created over a hundred bronze statues that beautifully depict Seminole history and leaders. On today’s blog, we explore the incredible artistry in the Cooleys’ bronze statues, the rich Seminole history they embody, and where you can find some of these remarkable pieces.
In our featured image, you can see a snapshot from the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum sculpture garden. Located on the Museum campus, the sculpture garden is a collection of Cooley bronze. The collection depicts Seminole and Seminole ancestor history. The trio, titled “American Royalty,” is part of the Cooley’s “A Walk in Time” series. This series has a twin installation at the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee, FL.
Below, you can see another bronze by the Cooleys on the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum campus. This one depicts famous Seminole leader Abiaka (Sam Jones) guiding a mother and child to safety. To learn more about the sculpture garden, we encourage you to explore while visiting the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum! In October, the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum holds a “Pumpkins of the Devil’s Garden” event in the sculpture garden. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for updates!
Bronze by Cooley
A second-generation artist and sculptor, Bradley Cooley Sr. learned from his father. He then passed his love of art and sculpting on to his son Bradley Cooley Jr. Together, the duo made over 40 life-sized sculptures for the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Additionally, they made dozens of busts, tabletop sculptures, and other smaller works. Below, you can see some of the tabletop sculptures Cooley made of former Seminole Princesses. They are on display at the Chairman’s office at Tribal Headquarters in Hollywood, Fl.
Via the Seminole Tribune
A longtime friend of the Seminole Tribe, Guy LaBree introduced Cooley to James E. Billie in the 1980s. Billie soon commissioned Cooley to create a sculpture titled the “Legend of the Kissimmee River.” The rest, as they say, is history. Cooley Sr. quickly forged a strong relationship with the Seminole Tribe. He poured his attention to detail, dedication, and passion into each piece. Over the years, the duo created more than 100 Seminole inspired and influenced works, from history to Seminole princesses and leaders. Bradley Cooley Sr. passed away in 2017, after decades of working with the Tribe and creating sculptures out of his 130-acre ranch in Lamont, Fl.
Remembering Bradley Cooley Sr.
In a Seminole Tribune article remembering Cooley Sr., Tribal Members such as Wanda Bowers and Stephen Bowers spoke about his attention to detail and the importance of his work with the Tribe. Wanda Bowers, who was Chairwoman for the Seminole Princess Committee, would bring the new Seminole princesses to be sculpted by Cooley every year. “Bradley was really a people person and loved to tell stories,” recalled Wanda Bowers. “He was humble; as big as his artwork was, we could just sit and visit all day.” Cooley sculpted the reigning Seminole Princess from 2005-2015
“He was so detailed that he bought the uniform of every branch of the service to get it right,” said the late Stephen Bowers, then president of Florida Seminole Veterans Foundation, on the statues Cooley made for the Veterans Building. “He was a mellow guy and he listened to you to see what you wanted.”
Cooley’s relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida was incredibly important to him, as was accurately and faithfully depicting Seminole history and individuals. Linda Cooley, wife of Bradley Cooley Sr., shared that “[The Tribe] became part of our family. We are fortunate to have a lot of good friends in the Tribe. We travel down to South Florida at least three or four times a year. His relationship with the Tribe was very important to him.”
Below, you can see Bradley Cooley Sr. sculpting a clay head. He wears a patchwork jacket at the Jacksonville Powwow in January 1994.
GRP1846.11, ATTK Museum
A Continued Legacy
“Bronze is forever,” said Bradley Cooley Jr. following the loss of his father in 2017. “It’s for generations to come and will be something permanent. I’ve done some sculptures in other media, but I prefer the bronze because I know it will be here when you and I are gone.” Cooley Jr. noted in the same article, a COCA Spotlight, that he hoped his and his father’s greatest contributions will be to the Native peoples of the Southeast. Despite the loss of Bradley Cooley Sr., his statues and legacies endure not only in the Seminole community, but also in his own family. Bronze by Cooley, the father and son duo behind so many of these fantastic pieces of Seminole inspired and influenced art, continues on with Bradley Cooley Jr.
Learning from his father, Cooley began sculpting at age 5. “I started out picking up little pieces of clay my dad left behind and making stuff,” recalls Cooley, “I learned a lot about design there, but my father was the one who taught me about technique. After school, I went right into the business.” The Cooleys, who use the “lost wax” technique to cast their bronze, begin the process by making a small model before sculpting the larger statue in clay.
“Sculpting in the first month is my favorite part,” says Cooley Jr. “On a life-size sculpture you’re putting on handfuls of clay and by the end, you’re putting on thimblefuls of clay. At the beginning, you may work on it for two days and look at it for two hours, but by the end, you may look at it for two days and work on it for two hours.”
Cooley Jr. is dedicated to detail, like his father. “Expression is most important part of a sculpture,” says Cooley. “If you have someone gigging an alligator or a lady sewing clothes, you want different types of expression. None of my sculptures is a generic face and may use several faces as reference, but we want it to be lifelike as if it would talk to you. We want you to see what we’re thinking.”
The Next Generation
Now, Cooley Jr. works with his own son, Holden. Together, they created a giant 8-foot rattler sculpture at FAMU, unveiled in 2020. “I wanted to make him [Cooley Sr.] proud,” Cooley said of the rattler piece. “It’s the first monumental-size I’ve done since he passed. My son, Holden, is following in the same footsteps as I did with my Dad (who also sculpted with his father). He worked on this with me. He’ll be the fourth-generation sculptor with the Cooleys.”
2015.6.7188, ATTK Museum
Above, you can see Bradley Cooley Jr. (left) with his father, Bradley Cooley Sr. (right). They sit in front of their bronze statue of Abiaka (Sam Jones) leading a mother and child to safety. The image was taken at the dedication ceremony for the statue at Tree Tops Park in Davie, Fl on September 16, 1995.
Where can you see Bronze by Cooley?
On Reservation
The newest additions to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum’s Cooley collection are in the Sculpture Garden, located just feet from the entrance to the museum. The garden, which opened at a similar time to the Billy L. Cypress building in 2019, features the Cooley’s full “A Walk in Time” series. This series depicts Seminole and Seminole ancestors throughout history, as they have shifted, adapted, and grown with a changing world. Below, you can see another shot from the series, titled “Movin’ On.”
As we have touched on previously, the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum also has a statue of Abiaka (Sam Jones) leading a mother and child to safety, under a chickee to the front of the Museum entrance. In addition to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, there are other bronzes by the Cooleys installed at various on-reservation locations. At the Big Cypress Gymnasium, a statue of Herman L. Osceola stands to greet those who enter.
Rededicated in 2012, the gym was named for Osceola when the statue was installed. On the Brighton Reservation, the Veterans Building showcases seven bronze statues of the seven branches of the United States Military, as well as a statue of the famous warrior Osceola. This statue of Osceola, which also can be found at Tribal Headquarters on the Hollywood Reservation, is one of the late Bradley Cooley Sr.’s favorite bronzes he has cast. “It came out so well, and it reflects in the sculpture,” he explained in a Seminole Tribune article from 2012.
Off Reservation
In addition to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum Sculpture Garden, you can visit the entire “A Walk in Time” series at the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee, FL. Visitors can also find pieces of the series in other places. “A Seminole Family,” pictured below at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum Sculpture Garden, is also located outside Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State University.
The statue of Abiaka (Sam Jones) can also be found in Tree Tops Park in Davie, FL.
So, wherever you have an opportunity, we encourage you to seek out and visit these exquisite statues!
Author Bio
Originally from Washington state, Deanna Butler received her BA in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Washington in 2014. Deanna moved to Florida in 2016. Soon, she began working for the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Deanna was the THPO’s Archaeological Collections Assistant from 2017-2021. While at the THPO, Deanna worked to preserve, support, and process the Tribe’s archaeological collection. She often wrote the popular Artifact of the Month series and worked on many community and educational outreach programs. She lives in Lakeland, FL with her husband, two sons, and dog.
