ANDREA GALABINSKI D.J. Wilkins with his newest project The Greyhound for Indianapolis University.

Local artist D. J. Wilkins was officially proclaimed “The Sculptor of Fort Myers” by former Fort Myers Mayor Art Hammel and his City Council. He is responsible for 23 of the 28 public (and most recognizable) sculptures in the area, a distinction, he said, that is truly an honor.

But recently, he said he was honored by a completely different type of recognition. He found his work on the cover of the new Fort Myers Embarq phone book.

A North Fort Myers resident, Wilkins said he was totally taken by surprise when neighbor and fellow acclaimed artist Greg Biolchini walked into his yard, and asked what it took to make the cover of an area phone book.

Wilkins said he thought highly recognized painter Biolchini had received the high profile visual – but instead, it was him.

The cover of the Fort Myers/Lee County Embarq phone book that came out in May 2009 features Wilkins’ statue of Thomas Edison, with the words, “Edison and Ford Winter Estates sculpture of Thomas Edison by D.J. Wilkins.”

SPECIAL TO THE NEIGHBOR A bust of Pope John Paul II presented to Pope Benedict by a friend.

“I was very surprised to see that there,” he said.

Besides that Edison statue, Wilkins’ works include Uncommon Friends, Edison, Ford & Firestone Centennial Park; Henry Ford at the Henry Ford home; The Florida Panther on Monroe Street, Fort Myers; The Great Turtle Chase in Centennial Park and The Harborside Collection – eight works including Chief Billy Bowlegs, Connie Mack, Thomas Edison and James D. Newton. He’s done Great Chiefs of The Seminole Nation and Heroes of Christianity – Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.

He’s also the one that did the prominent restoration of The Marine Corp Monument (Iwo Jima to the public) that greets you when you are in Cape Coral on Veterans Parkway.

Wilkins has been a sculptor for 33 years. He didn’t start out as one.

“I was a heating and air conditioning serviceman and taught at a trade school in Indiana,” he said. “I had pretty much gotten to the top of the trade and I decided to quit, I could afford it at the time, and I decided I wasn’t going to do anything else at the time but find what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

ANDREA GALABINSKI Local artist D.J. Wilkins with a bust of Mother Theresa at his North Fort Myers home/studio.

He came here in 1974 and started hanging out with an artist on Fort Myers Beach, who suggested they go to an art gallery in Naples.

“I was fascinated with everything I saw there, but there were these trees and I noticed they were made of copper,” he said. “I could see exactly how I could make such a thing so that’s how it happened.”

He said he started doing works of trees and it took off from there.

Wilkins has a Key West-style studio in North Fort Myers. He talked about his background and his work.

Concerning the Uncommon Friends statue, he has a great story.

“Jim Newton had written the book ‘Uncommon Friends’ which was being distributed all over the place,” Wilkins said. “He was a friend of mine so I called him up and asked, ‘What do you think about my naming the statue I’m doing for Centennial Park Uncommon Friends, the same as your book?’ He said he’d be honored, but I said, ‘You’d be honoring me,’ so that’s how it got that name.”

He bought his North Fort Myers home when he was doing the Uncommon Friends work.

“I’ve been here ever since,” he said.

Another honor he said he is proud of is the presentation of a bust of Pope John Paul II, presented to Pope Benedict XVI by a friend at the Vatican.

John Biffar, a local filmmaker who produces works for PBS and more, who had worked with him, called him up and asked if he had his bust of Pope John Paul II.

“I said, ‘Yea, but what are you going to do with it, John?'”

He said, “I’m going to give it to Pope Benedict. Then I said, ‘You can’t give anything to the Pope!’ But I gave it to him anyway. He was doing a film at the Vatican.”

Wilkins said he had done it in hopes of getting it to Pope John II, but there was no way to do it.

“Every artist in the world would like to say they gave something to the Pope,” he said.

Then his friend did present it in a private audience with Pope Benedict, and a picture of the event is something he said he cherishes. It hangs above his desk.

His most current project is The Greyhound, for Indianapolis University. A main benefactor of the university had seen some of his other work, and asked him to do the mascot for a prominent sculpture.

He said he recently did an inventory of his work and was surprised at the number of local pieces.

To view his sculptures, go to djwilkins.com.