Sabin Howard: “His WWI Memorial elevated him from a renowned sculptor to a world-class master.”
Published: 17 April 2026
By Dallin Malm
via the Momentum Theory podcast on YouTube
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Master sculptor Sabin Howard sits in front of the "A Soldier's Joueney" sculpture for the National World War I Memorial in his New Jersey sti=udio in 2024. The sculpture was installed in Washington, DC on June 12, 2020. (Courtesy of Traci Slatton Howard)
Sabin Howard is known by many as “The American Michelangelo.” He’s a master sculptor and modern classicist, best known for A Soldier’s Journey, the 58-foot, 38-figure bronze National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. Trained in the classics by master teachers, he spent decades teaching, building a studio practice, and pushing figurative sculpture back to its proper place in the public square. His WWI Memorial elevated him from a renowned sculptor to a world-class master.
In our conversation, Sabin takes us deep into the psychology of creation. He speaks of purpose over comfort, the “liminal space” where you step into the unknown, and the athlete-level discipline it takes to build mastery. We talk through his early inspiration in Italy at the Medici tomb, the mentors who demanded precision, and why he sees great art as something you construct rather than merely “express.”
As he takes us through the story of the WWI Memorial, Sabin describes winning the national bid among hundreds of competitors, then fighting for the vision through years of iteration, resistance, and bureaucratic friction, until the work finally came to rest in the nation’s capital. He then talks about his journey to an unlikely place, a journey westward to the state of Utah, where he pursues his most ambitious project yet.
Sabin’s core thesis is simple and intense: public art should be ambitiously scaled, story-driven, and spiritually meaningful. These are the building blocks of creating art that inspires and endures. He’s now aiming even higher with his next monumental project, the Grand Liberty Arch. Watch for his first exclusive walkthrough of the arch, where he breaks down its symbolism, meaning, and grand vision.
Watch the entire podcast episode on the YouTube website.
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