Huckleberries gone wireless: Sculptor makes moose, designs Pappy

Sculptor Bryan Ross designed the maquette (30-inch model) for an 8-foot statue of Pappy Boyington at the Kootenai County airport field recently named after the World War II hero. You can read the entire Ross interview at Huckleberries Online today: www.spokesmanreview.com /blogs/hbo.

DFO: What’s your day job?

BR: Vice president of Idaho Trust National Bank.

DFO: That’s a strange combo, art and business. Also, you and your wife, Kaye, have a draft horse ranch in Sagle. How does that all fit together?

BR: I always wanted to sculpt. I remember (as a kid) making ice sculptures in the schoolyard, of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. In 1993, I was in a carwash in Coeur d’Alene, sitting next to Pam Carlson, the wife of famous sculptor George Carlson from Harrison. We started a conversation about draft horses. She said (her husband had) sculpted a Clydesdale for Anheuser-Busch. She told me her husband would want to come to my ranch to look at my horses. He took me under his wing.

DFO: Why bronze?

BR: It’s a medium of art that lasts forever. If you recall in 9/11, the sculpture of Auguste Rodin (“Bergers of Calais”) was uncovered in the rubble intact.

DFO: How would you rate Coeur d’Alene as an art community?

BR: In the last few years, due to the efforts of the local artists and galleries, especially Steve Gibbs at The Art Spirit Gallery, we’ve seen the beginning of the awareness of art. (Projects like the No Moose Left Behind and Art Walk have increased that awareness, too.)

DFO: You designed the maquette for the No Moose Left Behind sculpture. What was your favorite moose of the 26 painted by local artists?

BR: The ones that stood out to me were the Monarch Moose with the monarch butterfly wings.

DFO: Your next project is to sculpt a statue of Pappy Boyington. Do you have ties to the World War II hero?

BR: My father was a P-38 combat pilot during World War II. … He had a high regard for Pappy Boyington.

DFO: Did your father have any problems with Boyington’s hard-living, hard-drinking ways, as some in this community did when they were considering renaming the airfield after him?

BR: Following World War II … I observed that my dad had a drinking problem and smoked. I realized that the perils of World War II had an impact on his emotional well-being (as they must have had on Pappy Boyington).

DFO: In sculpting the maquette, what did you try to capture about Boyington?

BR: The sculpture is reflective of Pappy’s love of flying, which I tried to accomplish by him standing and looking up into the sky with an attitude that he hopes that his fellow pilots will return from mission.

DFO: What does public art do for a community?

BR: It raises the consciousness of its citizens because you can’t measure the impact on a child or an adult when he sees a work of art in City Park or at the library. I’m doing a bust of (late Coeur d’Alene doctor) Ted Fox for the new library.

DFO: How can someone contribute to the Boyington Memorial Sculpture Fund?

BR: We need $50,000 immediately to proceed with the enlargement of the prototype. Tax-deductible donations can be made to the Boyington Memorial Fund, 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 300, Coeur d’Alene. Funds in excess of the sculpture cost will be used to purchase a Quonset (a replica of the Baa Baa Black Sheep Quonset hut) and to help disabled Iraq vets. The Quonset hut … will house memorabilia that has been donated by Black Sheep enthusiasts. The goal is to not just memorialize Boyington but other local aviators, too.