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Film – The Creation of the Daniel Nimham Sculpture

Event Category:

A film screening and talk at the Stockbridge Library

This event is FREE and open to the public. Tickets are not required and attendees will be admitted on a first come first serve basis.

The film runs 60 minutes. Michael and Jeff will give an introduction before the film begins and they will be happy to take questions at the end.

Sachem Daniel Nimham was the last official sachem of the Wappinger People in the Hudson Valley Region of New York. He is a beloved local hero with roads, lakes, and even a mountain bearing his name. He moved with many of his people to Stockbridge, MA in 1756, and fought in the French and Indian War, only to return to find his people’s lands stolen by unscrupulous English landowners. He attempted to resolve the matter in the colonial courts, even traveling to England to discuss the matter with the Board of Trade. Unable to resolve the land issue, in 1775 he joined forces with fellow Stockbridge Mohicans under George Washington. Nimham fought in a number of skirmishes against British forces during the revolution, but he and about forty Stockbridge Warriors were ambushed and killed at the Battle of Kingsbridge on August 31, 1778.

In 2020, sculptor Michael Keropian was commissioned by the Town of Fishkill, New York to create an eight foot tall bronze monument to Nimham. In THE CREATION OF THE DANIEL NIMHAM SCULPTURE, Keropian narrates the life of Daniel Nimham as he takes the viewer on an informative journey through the complicated and eye-opening process of creating a larger-than-life representational sculpture.

Michael Keropian is a professional sculptor who focuses on historical subjects. His work encompasses monumental scale sculptures on stadiums, to small service medals for Veterans. He recently created a 8’ public statue of Sachem Daniel Nimham for the Town of Fishkill, NY, and two seven foot statues for his hometown of Manchester, CT in 2019 and 2023. Michael has won numerous awards throughout the years and his work is in private collections around the world.

Jeff Hodges grew up in Stockbridge and works as a cameraman documenting culture and the arts in New York City. He has produced many film projects of his own, often at the behest of local non-profit organizations. He is currently at work on a film about an historic cemetery in Patterson, NY, with a long and mysterious past dating back to the early 18th century.