Country's Largest Juried Sculpture Show Celebrates Fortieth Anniversary in Loveland

Just how did the small town of Loveland, Colorado, amass one of the largest collections of contemporary public sculpture in the United States?

Forty years ago, a group of five Loveland artists sat down over beers and decided the town needed an art show. The resulting event, now known as Sculpture in the Park, is the largest outdoor juried sculpture show in the country, and it returns this weekend for its fortieth anniversary at Benson Sculpture Garden in downtown Loveland.

Dennis Sohocki, a contemporary abstract sculptor from Sedona, has participated from the beginning. “In 1984, Loveland had well-known fine-art casting foundries, and artists came from across the country to cast work there," he recalls. "The town thought it’d be nice to retain some of the art for the city. So five artists — George Lundeen, Dan Ostermiller, George Walbye, Fritz White and Hollis Williford — said, 'We’ll put on a show to earn money and buy art for the town.”

The artists connected with city leaders to develop a show whose proceeds would go toward purchasing a monument-sized sculpture for the city of Loveland. “Everyone from the mayor on down was in favor,” Walbye recalls. “Not a negative comment or hesitation. To this day, it just amazes me how many people come from everywhere to enjoy the park.”

The first show made $50,000, enabling the town to purchase several sculptures, including Walbye's "High Plains Warrior" and "Windsong," establishing the town’s now-esteemed public art collection. “Loveland is the only show like this I do,” Sohocki says fondly, “because the money stays in the community, and they just really love and support artists.”
Overall, Sculpture in the Park is a philanthropic event committed to cultivating the arts in Loveland. Each year, organizers use its profits to purchase some of the sculptures for the city, underscoring the way the event truly gives back to the community. This year, the fortieth-anniversary celebration begins on Friday, August 9, with the Patron Party, a limited-ticket event catering to serious collectors. That kickoff event is followed by the public art show and sale on Saturday, August 10, and Sunday, August 1. The Benson Sculpture Garden in Loveland will come alive with more than 2,000 sculptures from 160 artists, including local as well as national and international creators.

"It really began by filling a need for artists to exhibit their work," says Amy Higgins, business manager for the Loveland High Plains Arts Council, which organizes the show and maintains the collection.

“We exist because we believe in the artists,” she note. From the beginning, the show has been a collaborative project supported by the town. The nonprofit LHPAC, which includes twelve boardmembers, purchases the work following the show through an additional juried evaluation. Since 1984, the LHPAC has purchased and donated nearly 200 sculptures, worth more than $5 million, to the City of Loveland for permanent display in the Benson Garden.

The process for the annual event begins in the fall, when the LHPAC puts out a call for entry; artists who made up the top 50 percent in sales the previous year are invited to participate again. Pieces are chosen by a jury of five established local artists of various mediums. “That way we keep it fresh with new artists and consistent with popular and well-received ones," Higgins explains.
Walbye still participates every year, and is known for giving tours of the sculpture garden year-round. He is a Western artist who “grew up half-cowboy in Wyoming,” as he puts it, and got into art by accident after visiting a friend’s studio. “He gave me some wax to carve, and later I took it to the commercial foundry, which hadn’t cast art yet,” he recalls. Now, Bronze Services of Loveland is one of the largest and highest-quality casting services in the country, drawing artists from around the world. “After that, I took my art to a gallery in Taos, and that was fifty years ago," he continues. "I’ve never had a lesson, but I’ve sold a lot of art, met wonderful people, and it’s been a great life.”

This year’s show includes several sculptors from what Higgins and the council like to call “the Mag Seven” — Gerald Balciar, Jack Kreutzer, Nicholas Moffatt, Sohocki, Garland Weeks, Curtis Zable and, of course, Walbye. “George is a huge part of our history,” Higgins notes, and the LHPAC came to be because of these esteemed artists. “Art has always been a big deal in Loveland,” she adds, and it endures “because of the personal connections we have in our community, and it’s evolved over forty years into something really spectacular.”

According to the LHPAC’s press release, this year’s show will also include the installation of three sculptures purchased with revenue from the 2023 show. "Forget Me Not," by Georgene McGonagle, is a “bronze, stylized African Elephant, with sharp lines and wonderful curves,” while "Strength of the Maker," by Denny Haskew, “depicts a Native American man bending a bow across his back, representing the strength of a higher power that created nature and man." There will also be "Ridge Runners," by Amanda Markel, which uses wolves as “a symbol of unity, represent[ing] our connectedness and the strength we gain from being in a community. Their pack mentality represents collaboration and what can be achieved when working together towards a common goal.” And that concept perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the event.

Walbye, Sohocki and Higgins all speak appreciatively of the collaborative communal effort that inspired and maintains the annual sculpture show. “It takes about 400 people to run our show,” Walbye marvels. “It is an unusual town in that we have so many people that are interested in doing things like this for the city. People volunteer year-round to take care of the park, plant flowers, take care of the bronze. It’s just part of life up here.” Some volunteers even adopt a sculpture or part of the garden.

Sculpture can be one of the most accessible art forms, and certainly one of the most public ones. As Walbye says: “A good sculpture garden can be more engaging to more people simply because it’s so nice to be outside.”

Sculpture in the Park, Benson Sculpture Garden, 1125 West 29th Street, Loveland, Saturday, August 10, and Sunday, August 11. Tickets are $10 (free for children fourteen and under).