John is the son of two fine artists Carin and Robert Hebenstreit. His father is a landscape painter and his mother is a well established portrait painter. Both of them have been teaching art for over thirty years, so his appreciation for the arts began quite early. John began sculpting at the age of ten working in modeling clay with his mother. At nineteen he received a full scholarship to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for Industrial Design. The program tested his ability to work with many new tools, to open his mind to alternative materials and to be more precise in his execution. Later he attended the Cincinnati Academy of Design where he honed his painting and illustration skills. Sculpture has always been his primary focus working in oil clay, terra cotta, wax, foam and plaster. John’s first public art commission came in 2003 when the Cincinnati Park Board selected him to sculpt a bust of Mayor Theodore M. Berry to be placed in the Theodore M. Berry International Friendship Park. In 2004 he was named the official sculptor for Guitar Center Hollywood’s “RockWalk” where he has produce portraits of many legendary musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Kurt Cobain. Since then John has been awarded numerous commissions. Most recently was his completion of the monument to three time world heavy weight boxing champion Ezzard Charles for the Cincinnati Parks Foundation and his half portrait of Federal Court Judge Nathaniel R. Jones. for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.