Anne Fewell, Giving Form to Thought
Sculptor Anne Fewell has the uncanny ability to capture the essence of someone’s personality in three-dimensional bronze. A Scientologist for 51 years, she talks of how her religion bolstered her confidence and helped her tap her potential.
The sculptures of Anne Fewell take on a life of their own.
Fewell has been an artist since age 6 when she first discovered the joy of representing her ideas in tangible form.
Encouraged by family and teachers, she immersed herself in her craft, turning a tiny room in the family home in Little Rock, Arkansas, into her studio. Fewell spent hours on end listening to jazz on the radio while practicing painting in the styles of her favorite artists.
With two statewide competitions under her belt, which earned her an honorable mention in junior high school and the blue-ribbon prize for an oil painting called “Jazz Man” in high school, Fewell was accepted at the Kansas City Art Institute where she majored in painting and minored in sculpture.
It was in her freshman year at the Institute that she first heard of Scientology.
“My friend Jean was a Scientologist,” says Fewell. “She was reading a book called The Creation of Human Ability by L. Ron Hubbard and I wanted to know what it was about. I used to fool around a lot so when I asked her about it she didn’t take me seriously. Finally one day I demanded ‘Let me read that book!’ She did and I did and Scientology has played an important role in my life ever since.”
After graduating from the Art Institute in 1962, Fewell boarded a train to Washington, D.C., then the United States headquarters of the Scientology religion, to begin her studies of the religion in earnest.
“I was welcomed with such genuine friendliness, I truly felt I was home,” she says.
This was particularly important to Fewell who had tended to be very shy.
“I used to avoid talking to people whenever possible,” she says. “Scientology helped me so much with this that on my first visit back to Little Rock after three months in D.C., my dad, who knew nothing about the religion, said, ‘Anne, whatever you are doing in Scientology, continue.’”
Scientology helped her overcome barriers to her creativity as well.
“All my unpleasant experiences as an artist—the criticism and unsolicited opinions—dissolved through my spiritual counseling and training,” says Fewell. “And Scientology helped me learn to inject life and vitality into my work.”
“I have discovered through Scientology that my abilities and understanding are far greater than I’d ever imagined. L. Ron Hubbard has helped me achieve states I never even dreamed exist. I am confident Scientology will continue to exceed my expectations.”
For more information on how Scientologists use Scientology to improve their ability and their lives, watch the “Meet a Scientologist” videos at www.Scientology.org.
The popular “Meet a Scientologist” profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total more than 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.
A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, which has now been viewed by millions of visitors.