Donations wanted to fund bronze statue

A bronze statue of a western stock horse and cowboy may be going up on Fourth Street.

Orland Arts Commissioner Rae Turnbull announced plans for the project at Monday night's City Council meeting.

Funding for the statue, which would go up in front of the downtown Christmas tree near the intersection with Walker Street, will be strictly by donations, she said.

The Arts Commission is asking the community to help raise $28,000 for the project, Turnbull said, adding it already has four firm commitments for donations of $2,000 each.

A total of 14, $2,000 donations are needed to complete it, she said, and can come from businesses, service clubs and private citizens.

Donor names will be permanently engraved on a bronze plaque and placed on the sculpture's pedestal.

The piece titled "Sagebrush and Silence" is to be created by nationally renowned sculptor Carl Ciliax whose work was displayed during the July show at the Orland Art Gallery.

In fact, Ciliax and his partner, Beverly Wilson, will be back by popular demand for this year's October show, Turnbull said.

The Napa couple "fell in love with our little town," she said, when they showed their work here last summer and believe it has a lot of promise.

This bronze is to stand five feet high and be re-created from a much smaller one Ciliax did earlier, Turnbull said, at a very reasonable price since most bronzes of that height and quality cost between $50,000 to $60,000.

Her husband, Arts Commissioner George Turnbull, will oversee the entire process, she said, from Ciliax's initial work at the foundry, to the design of the pedestal and installation.

"This a wonderful first for our city," Turnbull said. "There is no piece of sculpture of this significance in any nearby city ... not in Willows, Corning, Colusa ... even Red Bluff."

The bronze will face Walker Street and be easily seen from Highway 32 with the hope of drawing people downtown and slowing traffic on the highway to benefit Walker Street businesses, she said.

There is electricity at that end of Fourth Street, so the sculpture can be lit at night as well.

The bronze is a tribute to Orland's agricultural history, Turnbull said, since horses played an important role in the city's past as revealed in local historian Gene Russell's books.

It also fits perfectly with the district improvement plans for Fourth and Fifth streets, she said.

Besides the art gallery at Fourth and Colusa streets, the Arts Commission built the gazebo in Library Park and assisted with other projects around town.

Anyone interested in participating in this project may contact arts commissioners at the art gallery or through City Hall.