The Flathead Lake Monster (Petra)

This sculpture (unofficially named “Petra”) was commissioned by a patron as a gift to the City of Polson, Montana.  It is located in Sacajawea City Park near the heart of Polson on the shore of the lake.

 Hundreds of people, going back to the indigenous Kutenai Indians, have reported seeing a Loch Ness type monster in the waters of Flathead Lake.  We wanted to create a friendly, kindly, non-threatening-to-children version to honor and celebrate this monster.  In addition to that, as a sculptor, I focused on curves, lots of visually harmonious curves, in order to create graceful, flowing lines of movement—the “movement” of artistic form, and the literal movement of Petra, swimming through the water.

 The project took just under two years to complete, starting with proposal designs, then model-making, enlarging it in clay to the actual size, mold-making, bronze casting, crating, shipping, site preparation, and installation

Material: Bronze
Size: 25 feet long