Grant Speed

Western sculptor Grant Speed was born in 1930 in San Angelo, Texas. As a youth there was little evidence to indicate Grant would become an artist, instead he was fascinated with learning to ride and to rope. Throughout high-school Grant spent his summers and post-high school years working as a cowboy on his uncle’s ranch. Soon, he was working on neighboring ranches and became an accomplished horse breaker. When he grew older, he put his cowboying talents to work as a rodeo rider.

At the age of 18, he joined the U.S. Air Force for two years. During the next seven years he worked as a cowhand and rodeo rider, completed a three-year mission for his church, and attended college. The first serious sculpture Speed did was in an art class at BYU. He had it cast and gave the first of the ten casts to his wife. The other nine sold immediately. This success was a serious incentive for the would-be sculptor.