Islander Ullberg Creates Masterwork for Colorado Museum Bronze statue depicts first American Mastodon ever discovered By Dale Rankin When a bulldozer driver discovered bones of a Columbian mammoth while working near Snowmass Village in Colorado in 2010 it set in motion a series of events that led to the doorstep of Island resident and world renowned sculptor Kent Ullberg. The journey ended this week at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with the dedication of Ullberg’s latest creation, his largest freestanding sculpture to date at 19 feet, which now stands in front of the museum. The bronze sculpture of the American mastodon (Mammut americanum) is entitled Snowmastodon. News of the discovery quickly spread worldwide though the scientific community. The project was soon dubbed The Snowmastodon Project and scientists eventually pulled more than 6,000 bones from 50 different species at the site, including infants and juveniles and the largest accumulation of American Mastodons ever found. The specimens are the subject of ongoing scientific study with more research papers currently underway. One of a kind Within days of the discovery of the bones scientists realized they were something special. While the bones of wooly mammoths had been found in the Siberian Tundra, no such discovery had been made for the American Mastodon. The find was so rare scientists weren’t even sure what they actually looked like, that’s where Kent and his creativity came into play. I had the freedom to do the soft tissue, the face, the eyes, to make him look kind, oh you know, benevolent, Ullberg said, from his studio in Loveland, Colorado. The museum brought the Swedish-born Ullberg to the United States to consult for them. From Sweden to The Island A native of Sweden, Kent Ullberg is recognized as one of worlds foremost wildlife sculptors. He studied at the Swedish University College of Art in Stockholm and also worked at museums in Germany, the Netherlands and France. He was curator at the Botswana National Museum and Gallery and in the U.S. at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. He is a long-time Island resident and sculpted the marlin statue which greets Island visitors from atop the “The Island” sign at the base of the JFK Bridge and the namesake of Ullberg Park on The Island where more of his work can be viewed. Ullberg was working at the Botswana National Museum in Africa in 1969 when he guided a field crew from the Museum during a collecting expedition. In 1972, Ullberg’s new Denver friends invited him to visit the Museum, and while here he sculpted animals for a couple of dioramas. Two years later, he moved to Denver and began supervising the development of Botswana Hall. He was one of the masterminds and the sculptor of the cheetah-impala diorama at the Museum, a visitor favorite. In 1976 he left the Museum to pursue his ultimate dream of becoming a bronze wildlife sculptor and found his way to The Island. The shear scope of the Snowmastadon project made the movement of the finished product from studio to final destination through city streets to the museum a challenge. Hauling it down there was really scary, even laying it down as we did, Ullberg said. Even on its side, the mastodon was 14 feet 7 inches tall. Some underpasses on the interstate are under 13 feet, which meant the driver and caravan of flashing cars took a creative route to Denver with the sculpture from Art Castings in Loveland where the work was loaded onto Ullberg’s custom trailer and hauled down Interstate 25, around overpasses and dodging power lines to reach its final destination at the Museum. The Museum is very close to my heart because its changed my heart completely, he said. This is a wonderful relief (to have finished the mastodon). “Its the closing of a circle for me. His work is widely collected, and his monumental sculptures are displayed in major cities around the world but The Island is still his home.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 18:20:14 +0000
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