In a quiet studio in Loveland, Colorado, among the hum of memory and the hush of clay, sculptor Jane DeDecker is shaping more than bronze—she is shaping history. With every curve of metal, every delicate gesture immortalized in form, she tells the untold stories of women.
“I am a sculptor. I’ve been an artist my whole life,” she says, her voice steady with purpose and humility.
DeDecker’s work is not merely art—it is a calling, a kind of communion with the past and a gift to the present. “My mom instilled in us that art… it’s like an obligation, you know, to your community to be a creative person and to give back.” That sacred sense of duty pulses through every statue she creates.
At the heart of her current work lies a dream decades in the making: a sculpture of Josephine Baker, the legendary performer, activist, and humanitarian. This vision was planted near Villa Beau Chêne in the town of Le Vésinet, France, where Baker once lived.
“They want to do something to beautify the city,” Jane comments. “We suggested to them… maybe a sculpture of Josephine Baker.”
Though the project took time to gain traction, the spark never dimmed. “We pitched them an idea, and they loved it… so now we’ve just got to raise the money and make it happen.”
The sculpture will depict Baker in her younger years—at the height of her brilliance, her laughter echoing in the jazz halls of Paris, her soul dancing in every step. “I think one of the happiest parts of her life was performing…. She was a force.”
DeDecker understands the power of capturing a single moment—a glance, a touch, a memory—in solid form. “One of my favorite pieces is a man tying a child’s shoe… it just sort of honors that simple moment.”
These fleeting, human gestures become timeless under her hands. Her love for history is deeply rooted in her curiosity about and desire to explore the inner lives of women.
“I just love delving into how they thought and how they would have reacted to certain things,” DeDecker shares. “There are those pivotal moments in your life where… you kind of hone in on who you are as an individual.”
Sculpture becomes her medium of empathy—her way of stepping into another’s soul, of offering their story back to the world with reverence. DeDecker’s connection to women runs far beyond the figures she sculpts. It reaches into her community, her friendships, and her family.
DeDecker fondly refers to one of her friends, Norma Hammond, a poet. “She’s been such an advocate for me…. She does so much for the city that she’s a huge inspiration for me.” She also names Sojourner Truth, Abigail Adams, and most tenderly—her mother.
The sculptor admits she wasn’t the greatest student in school, joking that she probably would have been diagnosed with ADHD. But DeDecker recalls that whenever she left for school, her mother would encourage her to “make something beautiful today, Janie.”
Those words from her mother, simple and shining, became a mantra—a compass guiding her through a lifetime of creation. “She just loved being an artist… not a professional artist, but she instilled in us an artful life.”
And as Jane passes that spirit down to her own children, she carries her mother’s voice in her heart. “She said, ‘Janie, you’re going to do a lot of things, but the most important thing you’re going to be is a mom.’”
The sculptor’s legacy is not only in bronze or stone. It lives in gestures of mentorship, in donations to local auctions, in art drives for homeless youth. “We just did an art drive for the Landing, the homeless youth shelter… putting art supplies in their hands.” She gives herself and her artistic talents to the community time and time again because that is the rhythm of her life: receive beauty, return beauty.
Her beloved hometown of Loveland has been both soil and sunlight in her story. “I’ve kind of been here even before the art community was even a thing… and so watched it grow and blossom.” Here, with her husband and four children, she roots her work in love and memory, each sculpture a branch reaching skyward. “It’s kind of like farming…. You plant these little seeds and they come to fruition.”
As the Josephine Baker project gathers momentum, DeDecker remains grounded, faithful to the spirit of storytelling and reverence. “I always feel it’s important to honor… ask the families and the descendants… if I can have their blessing.”
For Jane DeDecker, sculpture is not a spectacle—it is sacred. It is memory given form, it is love molded into permanence. And in her hands, history does not fade—it stands tall, luminous, and everlasting.
“My mom instilled in us that art…it’s an obligation to your community to be a creative person and to give back.”