Marshall Fredericks is a sculptor with strong ties to the Midwest and specifically Michigan. He studied at Cleveland School of Art, Cranbrook Academy, as well as several European academies and studios. He was a versatile and prolific sculptor whose specialty was architectural sculpture and fountains often commissioned for important civic buildings and plazas. In Michigan and beyond, he may be best known for the sculpture Spirit of Detroit in downtown Detroit. Fred Meijer acquired his first Fredericks sculpture for his hometown Greenville, Michigan, based on a Hans Christian Anderson children’s tale. Fred developed a great fondness for Frederick’s work; when Meijer Gardens opened in 1995, 33 bronzes by the artist were installed on the grounds.

Lord Byron is Frederick’s homage to the famous nineteenth-century Romantic poet. The sculptor fittingly portrays the poet as a man of great emotions and inner turmoil, his head thrown back and his hand raised to his forehead. Visitors can enjoy familiar Fredericks sculptures inside the Welcome Center such as The Thinker and Seven Saints and Sinners, and they will have a great a view of the sculptures Siberian Ram, Flying Wild Geese, and Wings of Morning all located inside the renovated Ram’s Garden.