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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Two Artists Working Together To Create ‘Antoine’

By the time snow flies, Antoine Plante will be back on the river.

That’s the intent of two artists who have contracted with Spokane County to create a sculpture in Plante’s Ferry Park.

Sculptor David Govedare and artist/historian Keith Powell are designing a realistic and historically accurate Antoine, who will stand on a rock overlooking the crossing.

The project will cost $30,000 and stems from a federal requirement for mitigation on a road widening project planned for Upriver Drive, just east of the park.

Antoine, as the two artists call him, will have a musket raised overhead, greeting someone across the river. In their research, the two clearly have come to respect the pioneer and his strong connections to the land.

“I’m sure he never thought 150 years later there might be an effort to pay tribute to his person,” Govedare said. “I want to capture something that suggests that time.”

Powell, who attended West Valley High School and remembers swimming at Plante’s Ferry himself as a teenager, is providing historical detail for the design: The musket should be sawed off, for easier maneuvering on horseback. His footwear, his clothing, the lanyard on his pistol - Powell has done enough hands-on research of pioneer ways that he knows each detail.

Last week, the two men videotaped the site. They climbed the hill under the Arbor Crest winery and imagined what the valley looked like with no houses, no roads. Govedare, who’s known regionally for the runners scuplture in Riverfront Park and the horses overlooking the Columbia River near Vantage, says he’s clearing room for the project in his studio in Chewelah, Wash. The sculpture will be of steel, possibly with Antoine’s face and hands cast in bronze.

Govedare and Powell hope the project attracts benefactors to make possible a second phase: horses and riders on the south side of the river, crossing the Centennial Trail.

“By putting it on the trail, it would have an audience of great numbers to appreciate it. It really could become something of a draw - as much as the runners in (Riverfront) Park, I think,” Govedare said.

Meanwhile, county engineer Ross Kelly said the $1.3 million road project itself is still waiting for funding. Design money was received last year, but about $1 million is still needed. Construction may begin this fall, if money is made available, he said.

The construction will widen and straighten Upriver Drive through the curves west of Plante’s Ferry and also will add a spur of the Centennial Trail from the Islands trailhead to the park.

, DataTimes