In 2018, the Puffin Foundation unveiled Gary Sussman’s memorial to Pete Seeger in Teaneck, New Jersey. The piece depicts the late folk singer and the social causes he championed. The sculpture, with its 500 pounds of bronze, 12 tons of marble, and 16 ton foundation, took Sussman three years to complete. “I started with a 23 ton block, then carved ‘directly’, with minimal guidance from the approved rough clay model,” says Sussman. “Pete is a little over life-size with larger-than-life hands and neck. This was done with full intention to bring subliminal attention to the fact that his voice and his hands were the machine that brought attention to his activism. The figures over his left shoulders (he was left leaning politically) represent diversity -each holding a message that Pete fought for.”  The dedication was part of a weekend long celebration of Pete Seeger (who would have turned 99 on May 3), which also included music and a sculpture demonstration by Sussman.

Sussman is a past Director of the Art Students League Vytlacil Campus in Rockland County, New York. He is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society, a life Member of the Art Students League and is listed in Who’s Who in American Art, and Who’s Who in the East.