John was born in Long Island, NY in 1932. At 12 years old, he started working for a local riding stable. It was one of two stables located near a state park. It was here that his love of horses began. From that early age, he knew that he wanted to get into some aspect of the horse business. It was also here, at age 18, that he met his future bride-to-be, Barbara.

He studied Graphic Illustration at Pratt Institute after serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. At that time, he did not pursue a career in art due to a growing family. Instead, he used this background to become a draftsman in the field of Architectural Metals at a time when most commercial buildings were made of metal and glass. This was an exacting job and required the ability to take an architects concept and make it workable to comply with shop and installation capabilities.

During his 15 years in the architectural metals business, he was called on to use his artistic abilities to do many shop drawings for buildings in New York City. But, the one project he worked on that excited him the most was doing the shop and erection drawings for massive arched windows for the grandstand and the clubhouse at Belmont Racetrack.

After purchasing a horse farm in North Salem, NY in 1964, he left the 9 to 5 routine of a draftsman and turned to the farrier trade. Today, he and his wife Barbara live in Gaylordsville, Connecticut. He still shoes a few horses every day to stay in shape and to be with horses and horse enthusiasts. Thirty-five years of shoeing horses has not dampened his enthusiasm for horses and he manages to ride his own horses about five days a week.

His love of horses shows in his sculptures which depict many different aspects of equestrian disciplines. Being a farrier has kept him in close contact with many equestrian event types. These include both field and show hunters, jumpers, dressage horses, reining horses, cutting horses, and polo ponies. He is more than familiar with what is correct in the showing and use of these horses in competition.

He has done many commissions of horses and riders for clients who want a one of a kind piece for themselves. Some of his commissioned bronzes are prestigious trophies given by the Professional Horseman's Association and the National Reining Horse Association. These include:

• The Trainer's Award - given to the trainer whose student who wins the P.H.A. medal
• The Paul Horn Memorial Trophy - awarded yearly at the Reining Futurity in Oklahoma City to the high point junior reining horse rider in the nation by the N.R.H.A.
• The Million Dollar Rider Trophy - given to any reining horse trainer to make one million dollars in prize money. This is given by the N.R.H.A. at the Oklahoma City Finals

While he does accept commissions, he enjoys doing pieces that are interesting to him because they are challenging in concept and artistic presentation. He casts them in limited editions of ten to fifteen depending on the size of the piece.

Many of his limited edition pieces have won awards at art shows in the Northeast.

You can view some of his pieces that are available in limited editions and also some of his commissioned pieces.

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• Kent Art Association Award of Excellence; Elka Scheman Award for Sculpture - 2005, for The Holding Pen

• Kent Art Association Award of Excellence; Vilma Kurzer Award for Sculpture - 2004, for Morning Workout 1946

• Hudson Valley Art Association - Agop Agopoff Memorial Award - 1994, for Nippy Morning

• Kent Art Association Sidney and Mimiko Mishcon Award - 1991, for Nippy Morning

• Kent Art Association Sculpture Award - 1989, for The Trainer

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• The Litchfield County Times Monthly Paper, August 2001, pg 28; "Horses in Form and Metal":
  An article about the artist along with a few photos of his sculptures

• HORSEWORLD Paper, April 4,1996, pg 16; "Inspired Artist and Skilled Craftsman - The Two Sides of John Favicchia":
  A two page article about the artist along with numerous photos of his sculptures and his work.

• EQUUS Magazine, March 1996, pg 76; "Casting as a Reining Role Model":
  An article about Bill Horn and the creation of the Million Dollar Rider Trophy sculpture

• The Chronicle of the Horse, August 18,1989, "The Trainer" as Cover Art and story on pg 58;
  An article about the artist and a story about the The Trainer

• The New York Horse, November/December 1988, story on pg 5;
  An article about the artist and The Trainer along with a photo of him presenting the award to the winner

• The Chronicle of the Horse, October 28,1988, "The Horseshoer" as Cover Art and story on pg 66;
  An article about the artist and a few photos of his work

• Horseman's Yankee Pedlar, December 1987, in the Equine Art Exhibition;
  An article about the artist and a photo of Hacking to the Opening Meet

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