On Sunday local artist Sandy Graves began the process of installing her latest pubic sculpture on the lawn adjacent to the Bud Werner Memorial Library, and by Monday the piece was capturing the attention of passing motorist.

“The whole thing is just steeped in meaning,” Graves said of the art. “The wings represent the spiritual nature of this entity that’s looking after us all — looking after not only the people, but the animals, the plants and just the whole spirit of the valley that we all get to enjoy.”

The sculpture, a bear with wings and a crown, was inspired the painting ‘She Walks on Water’ created by Susan Schiesser, a talented artist and longtime supporter of arts in the valley, who was diagnosed with cancer before passing away in October of 2020.

Dagny McKinley, with Undiscovered Earth, described Schiesser as instrumental in shaping the art scene in Steamboat Springs, and pointed out that her friend opened galleries, created  her own works of art and  encouraged more artists than can be counted to believe in themselves and their artwork. Schiesser was known for her out of the box ideas, like having a live horse at one of her exhibit openings at Red Gallery in the Sheridan retail space, and that her artwork often reflected a sense of fearlessness.

“Susan and I had actually started talking about this before she passed,” McKinley said. “I think it might have been after she was diagnosed with cancer, but well before we thought it was anything terminal. We had talked about how we could create something that shows the impact Susan had with the entire arts community, and that kind of evolved into taking one of her paintings and making that into a sculpture so that it would be more visible, more prominent in the community and so that more people would get to share in that story.”

Donations made in her memory to the Yampa Valley Community Foundation, along with money raised from an art auction at her celebration of life that included Schiesser’s own paintings, and contributions from other artists helped fund the sculpture.

“When Susan passed, she left all of her paintings to me in an effort to be able to sell them to make this vision become a reality,” McKinley said. “We had a huge auction at the depot where her friends came in and purchased those works of art. Some people made straight donations, some people purchase her paintings, but it was through that effort that the funds were raised to spearhead this.”

Friends hope the sculpture located near the banks of Soda Creek just upstream from the Yampa River, long known as the Bear River, will be a tribute to their friend, and the active community member that envisioned Steamboat’s art scene for more than traditional “Western” art.

The new sculpture includes the details, and shapes of Schiesser’s original painting as well and the unique feel that comes from Grave’s utilization of negative space. Graves said she normally works in bronze, but shifted to aluminum in this case because the sulphur that travels through the air from nearby hot springs would destroy the finish of this work of art.

The sculpture stands on circular concrete base, etched and toned to represent the river, and features a steel riser crafted to represent a cave or den that lifts the bear 20-feet in height into the sky.

Graves worked with Bryan Buikema, with C8 Projects, Inc. who helped cast, weld and install the sculpture in Steamboat Springs, as well as, lighting engineer, Christian Becerra whose work will add a unique interactive touch when the project is completed.

Graves wasn’t sure about the exact date of completion, but when finished the interactive lights will bring color to the sculpture — something that pay tribute to  Schiesser’s style.

“The biggest challenge was how do you bring the vibrancy and the color that Susan had in a lot of work towards something where Sandy tends to work in bronze and more subdued palettes,” McKinley said. “The way she managed that was to create this lighting element that will go in during the next couple of weeks that is just so phenomenal.”

McKinley said they wanted the sculpture to reflect that grizzly bears used to live the valley as well as many black bears.

“We wanted that connection to the bears, and to Steamboat Springs,” McKinley said. “That’s why we wanted the proximity to the Bear River (Yampa River),” McKinley said. “We wanted this to honor what this community is all about, and what it’s always been about, which is connection to nature, connection to the wildlife and something bigger than ourselves. I guess that’s what it’s all about.”

The sculpture was funded by friends of Susan Schiesser. The execution of the project was a collaboration between Undiscovered Earth, the Bud Werner Memorial Library and the City of Steamboat Springs. Graves is a longtime local who taught art at the Steamboat Mountain School (Lowell Whiteman School) when she arrived before becoming a nationally known for her sculpture.

In Steamboat Springs, Graves public work includes a sculpture of Lowell Whiteman at the Steamboat Mountain School, a sculpture of a mountain lion at the Routt County Health and Human Services building and the bronze sculpture that sits in front of the historic Routt County courthouse that features three life-size children playing together while representing skiing, mining and ranching —  the three dominant aspects of Routt County’s heritage.

 “I’m really honored that the community has embraces what I’m doing and supported it definitively,” Graves said. “It’s been a magical career.”