Cecil C. Carstenson was born in Marquette, Kansas in 1906, but lived most of his life in Kansas City. He was a lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Forces in World War II and received the Legion of Merit and an air medal with three clusters.  He had attended Finlay Engineering College.  He worked for Western Electric Company for 36 years and retired as a shop superintendent in 1962.

More importantly Carstenson was a sculptor for 50 years, working exclusively in wood for his last 40 years.  His work has been displayed in more than 25 museums, colleges and public buildings, including the Nelson Gallery; the Phoenix Museum; the Josyln Museum in Omaha, Nebraska; the University of Missouri-Kansas City; St. Benedict's College in Atchison, Kansas; the Birger Sandzen Gallery of Art in Lindsborg, Kansas; and the Missouri State Historical Society Gallery, Columbia, and at the Kansas City Art Institute and the Wichita Museum of Art.  He exhibited sculptures in the Missouri
Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in New York.

Carstenson taught sculpture at the University of Kansas City and conducted sculpture workshops at other colleges.  He was past president of the Mid-America Artists Association and of the local chapter of the Artists Equity Association.  He wrote the book Craft and Creation of Wood Sculpture (New York, Scribner, 1971).

Cecil attended the Kansas City Art Institute and the Omaha Art School, and studied with sculptors in the United States and Italy.  He was a member of the Friends of Art, the Kansas City Art Institute alumni association, the Friends of UMKC Library and the Kansas City Artists Coalition.

Cecil Carstenson died Jan. 3, 1991 at the age of 84 years.

Source:
Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Univ of Missouri - Kansas City
Information courtesy of Scott Wilder