Courage to Lead by Denny Haskew and the National Sculptors' Guild was placed in front of Brighton, Colorado's City Hall.

This one and a quarter life-size bronze sculpture was introduced in May of 1993 and won the Western Regional Show, Cheyenne, WY, the People’s Choice Award at Hillside Sculpture Invitational, and the Sculpture Award at the Red Earth Invitational Art Show. In the creation of this artwork, Denny drew upon historical research after being told stories about the Society of the Sacred Arrow. This Society existed among many of the Plains Indian tribes. Among other tribes, the Crow, the Arapaho and the Cheyenne were known to perform the Sacred Arrow Ceremony. The night prior to a raiding party, war party or some equally important event, the tribe would gather around the pow wow circle with much chanting and singing. The members of the Society of the Sacred Arrow would rush out into the center of the ring and collectively shoot arrows straight into the sky. Then with a show of bravery and courage, they would stand still as the falling shafts came back to earth. Each member was unafraid because of his strong belief in his spiritual protection. Their courage and conviction showed that their cause was right and that God was with them. This was a great morale boost to the tribe members in attaining success on the next day’s venture. This display of courage by the members of the Sacred Arrow Society often placed them in the role as leaders of other warriors.It is placed upon Dakota Sandstone taken from the foothills.

The sandstone used was created 70 million years ago. Dakota Sandstone occasionally appears on the plains in jutting outcroppings and bluffs. Plain’s Native Americans used it for structural purposes in religious dwellings. The design team of NSG Fellow Haskew and JK Designs Principal Kinkade has stacked 20 tons of this stone to create the suggestion of such an outcropping. The vertical stone holds a bronze plaque of explanation and commemoration.

Denny Haskew is a Charter Member of the National Sculptors' Guild and one of Loveland's best known artists with his sculptures installed throughout the United States including Alaska, California, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming, South Dakota, New York, Michigan, Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois and Kentucky. For many years, Haskew maintains a Loveland home-based studio.
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Haskew was born in Aurora and went to junior high and high school in Salt Lake City, Utah. He completed a bachelor's degree in business administration at the University of Utah. Haskew spent much of his early career as a ski instructor at Park City, Utah and was involved in developing ski touring trails in Idaho. He was also a white water river guide in the Grand Canyon. He did carpentry work and made furniture on the side.The talent and desire to become an artist goes back to Haskew's childhood when he carved decoys out of firewood for his father. He then tried his hand at carving shore birds.

His parents moved to Loveland, and Haskew became interested in meeting one of the local artists. His introduction to Fritz White changed his life, and he knew he wanted a career as an artist. He asked White how to get started, and White said, "The old fashion way -- as an apprentice." Haskew quickly asked if he could become White's apprentice and to that, White responded, "I was afraid you would say that." White was a taskmaster often tearing apart what Haskew had started. However despite critical setbacks, Haskew sold his first piece while working for White. After a year, Haskew set up his own studio. With just four pieces, he was accepted into "Sculpture in the Park" held annually in the Benson Park Sculpture Garden.

“I begin with the human figure. Initially, I have no intention of creating an ‘Indian image’, but sometimes the statement comes out stronger that way. Sometimes the opposite is true. Recently, I started to sculpt a Native figure, but it became something else. We’re all human beings inside. We’re all a mixture and will continue to mix until it no longer matters what type of figure is used as long as it makes the strongest statement possible.” see more of Haskew's work here.

NSG Public Art Placement #133

Denny Haskew and the National Sculptors’ Guild have completed and placed a one-of-a-kind monument titled “Whispers of Oneness” for Keystone, Colorado,

The 15-foot tall bronze and Dakota sandstone sculpture was dedicated in December, 1997.  A trans morphic depiction of a Ute Medicine Man enveloped by an eagle emerging from a stone monolith. The artwork honors the Utes and their 10,000 year history in Summit County.

For these multi-media works, Denny has developed a patina that matches the unique qualities of the stone, making the materials appear as one.

The artwork was selected from a national competition by The Summit Foundation and Keystone Real Estate Developments for the River Run Events Plaza in Keystone, Colorado.

The NSG design team members for this placement were Denny Haskew, Sculptor, and John W. Kinkade, Executive Director, National Sculptors’ Guild, both of Loveland, Colorado. 

"Let these stone shapes rise
like truths inside us all.
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Cool air caresses my being,
though these stones warm me.

Mysteries appear to merge,
perhaps an eagle is about to be born.

Stone and feather reaching upward,
drawing me into its presence of Oneness.

Eagle, Stone, Human

All whisper that ancient truth inside us all."
- Denny Haskew

• Original Narrative from the Proposal:

"During the development of this proposal it became evident that the name of this monument should be Whispers of Oneness. Our design team's research of the Ute people and their relationship to the River Run area indicates that how the valley continues to share its magic with all who visit, was how it did for thousands of years for the Utes.

As a Native American, my inspiration for this composition comes from the spiritual traditions of the Ute Tribe and the beauty of the site.  Called the Mountain People, the Ute maintained a habitation site that goes back 8,000 to 10,000 years within a stones throw of the River Run Sculpture Site.  Found at the site are arrowheads, tool manufacturing implements, paleo Indian projectiles, and many other points.
 
The sculpture will depict the harmony that we strive to reach with nature by showing a bald eagle sharing its secrets with a Ute medicine man.  The eagle's secrets were the source of the medicine man's magical healing powers and were a symbol of vibrant health.  The Utes gave their medicine men implicit trust.  Medicine men would go into a trance like state to receive the gifts from the eagles and other animals.
 
A bronze figure, one half Ute brave and one half eagle will emerge from a thirteen-foot high Dakota Sandstone monolith. Several other shorter sandstone monoliths will be grouped around it. In Native American beliefs, each stone has its own energy, soul, and tells its own story.
 
The image emerging from the stone will appear to be an eagle when viewed from the side, while from the face of the stone a Ute man enveloped by the eagle appears. When viewing the work in the round one will not be able to totally discern that one half of the figure is human and the other bird unless standing directly in front of the monolith from which the bronze figures emerge.
 
The Utes, eagles, and Dakota sandstone came together in Summit County and the Gore Range. Summit County is a prime area for eagles with the Eagles Nest Wilderness area on the border of the Summit and Eagle counties.  The Dakota sandstone is a prevalent material of fossil beds.  River Run sits on a 4,000 foot deep fossil bed and layers of Dakota sandstone remain visible to mountain visitors. The Dakota sandstone has also been used as a building material in the surrounding architecture, use of the stone will visually tie into the site.

The Utes were an open-handed and friendly people to the Euro-Americans who settled the area after gold was discovered by the Euro-Americans on August 10, 1859.  When the mining insurgence reached about 8,000 people in 1860, the Utes were still friendly and open, requesting that they just have the valleys where the game was. In 1879 the Utes were marched out of Summit County by the United States government and not at the wish of the Summit Euro-Americans.  This sculpture honors the Utes and their 10,000 year history in Summit County.

This competition has been both educational and inspirational to me.  During my life, I have been a ski instructor as well as a River Ranger for the National Park Service.  Studying the Ute tribe and its relationship to this site, and understanding the quality of experience and setting you wish to provide all of the visitors, has provided me an opportunity to convey my own philosophy of the importance of humanity's oneness with nature." -Denny Haskew, National Sculptors' Guild

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#Throwback #NationalSculptorsGuild #PublicArt #NSG #DennyHaskew #Figurative #Bronze #WhispersOfOneness #Ute #Keystone #Colorado #SummitCounty #IndeginousPeople #SculptureIsATeamSport #ArtistDriven #ClientMinded

Gary Alsum's "Grandpa's Workbench" was placed at the entry of Deines Lumber in Loveland, Colorado in 1996.

The sculpture depicts the generational tie of a grandfather creating stilts with, and for, his grandkids. One child is already at play on their new toy, while the other watches attentively as the grandparent pieces the wood together. Plains, buckets of nails and other tools are scattered on and below the workbench. 



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#NationalSculptorsGuild #PublicArt #NSG #Generational #GaryAlsum #Colorado #Loveland  #SculptureIsATeamSport #ArtistDriven #ClientMinded

National Sculptors' Guild Fellow Gary Alsum's bronze "And They're Off!" was placed in Denver in 1995.

A fun depiction of two kids on a tricycle - the speed and excitement of hitting the sidewalk is shown in their faces.  

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The National Sculptors' Guild placed Rosetta's "Mountain Fishing" bronze mountain lion at Hewlett Packard in Loveland in 1995.
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"Snapshot" by Jane Dedecker and the National Sculptors' Guild was placed in Lakewood, Colorado's Addenbrooke Park in 1994. 

​Snapshot was originally commissioned by Michael Jackson, The multi-figure bronze depicts a number of children ready for the camera, sitting on a bench with a wagon pulled up to one side; the kids are in a casual pose, enjoying a respite from summer play, holding toys and drinking a soda. It even includes the pouting kid in the back - not wanting to be pictured as often happens. The piece is universal even though it was inspired by photos Jackson gave DeDecker. 


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"Rites of Spring" by Kent Ullberg and the National Sculptors' Guild a 13.5 foot tall, polished stainless steel monument on stone, commissioned by the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, CO.  Installation - May 1994
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With a title paying tribute to Igor Stravinsky’s “Le sacre du printemps” (The Rite of Spring), Kent Ullberg’s stainless steel work features a majestic pair of whooping cranes. Ullberg lives on Padre Island in Texas, a winter home of the cranes, and says of his work and inspiration, “It’s an unforgettable experience to see their dance on a misty spring morning before their flight to their nesting grounds in Canada.”
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A native of Sweden and a leader in the field of wildlife sculpture, Ullberg is active in conservation efforts and his work is included in collections throughout the world.

Rosetta and the National Sculptor's Guild, The Lynx, Homestate Bank (now Independent Financial), 1993.

Rosetta's bronze sculpture, "The Lynx" guards the entrance to bank from its place in an intimate rock garden next to the door.

The Greeters by Denny Haskew and the National Sculptors' Guild placed at Mariana Buttes in Loveland, Colorado, 1993.

​A series of columns depict the past, present and future through portraits of Native Americans; an elder holding a feather, a woman holding a piece of pottery, and a youth who extends their hand to the viewer. 

A combination of Native sandstone and bronze, with bronze seemingly emerging from rough-hewn sandstone columns with a unique patina that matches the stone. This display of sculpture is very dramatic, and draws people in.