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Thursday, June 11, 1998

University of North Texas sculptors capture Texas wildlife

By CHRISTIAN BOHMFALK / Denton Record-Chronicle

DENTON, Texas -- Wild animals have invaded the University of North Texas.

Several deer, rabbits, rattlesnakes and even a bobcat have made their home outside a new UNT building, and they don't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. And UNT couldn't be happier.

The animals make up the Native Texas Wildlife Series, bronze sculptures of 18 animal species that are native to Texas. All but three of the animal groups have arrived at the area outside the new Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building, and passersby have taken notice of the eye-catching, realistic creations.

The sculptures were designed and created by David Iles, a UNT art technician, and seven UNT students. Dallas land developer and philanthropist Trammell Crow financed the pieces and donated a set of the bronzes to UNT.

"It was a very fortunate situation," Iles said of the bronzes being given to UNT. The timing, in fact, was perfect. In 1995, Crow asked Iles and his students to create two sets of bronze animals. One would be housed at the Dallas Arboretum, and Crow would retain one for his personal collection.

Iles took a year off from his duties at UNT to work on the project. After meeting with Crow, he realized that the scope of the work was larger than he had anticipated.

So, he decided to involve some students, who would get paid for their work and would have a unique chance to learn about bronze sculptures and work on a large, high-visibility project.

As the work progressed, Crow decided to donate his set to the university, to be housed outside the 117,000-square-foot environmental building. Iles, who had been working at his studio in Bolivar, outside Sanger, was surprised to hear the sculptures would have such an appropriate home at UNT.

"I wasn't even aware that they were building this building," he said outside the building as he explained the placement of the sculptures.

Sam Atkinson, a professor of environmental sciences at UNT whose office is in the new building, said faculty members are excited to utilize several different disciplines to teach about the environment.

"With the exhibits hall in the building, we were trying to figure out a way to show people that art has a story to tell about the environment," he said. "When Trammell Crow made that donation, it was kind of like our idea was right people do like to use art to tell about the environment."

Iles, who earned his master's degree from UNT and has taught there since 1987, said the open mindset of the environmental science faculty members impressed him and other artists.

"That's what I liked best about this building," he said. "They want to be all-inclusive about the way they do things in the environment. It's an inclusive group here."

The animals joining the building represent a range of Texas wildlife. The largest pieces, of deer and coyotes, anchor the collection at the corners of the building, with the coyotes serving as impressive sentries at the main entrance.

Near the entrance is a large, stately owl perched on a bronze tree. Off to the side, several quail appear to be taking flight as a bobcat peers back at them.

In keeping with the Texas theme, there are, of course, two armadillos, three rattlesnakes and two big-eared jackrabbits. A raccoon, some horned toads and some spiny swifts will be added soon to the building's outdoor learning center, which will also include a small pond and a mock archaeological dig.

"It's fun to see them out," Iles said. "We all did a lot of learning at once."

Iles and the students -- Laura Newby, Constance Nutsch, Cristophe Neumann, Cari Ashworth, Martin Iles, Fred Herbst and Vincent Villafranca -- conducted extensive research on each animal before designing what the finished sculptures would look like.

The research involved looking in scientific books, visiting taxidermy collections at museums, taking photographs of live animals and even using live and frozen specimens.

During the research process, the artists were having trouble getting a handle on what a bronze raccoon should look like. Four or five people worked on it before a student's trip home to Kansas brought the group what it needed.

Ms. Nutsch's mother had found a dead raccoon, and, aware of her daughter's efforts to create a realistic raccoon, she had the animal gutted. She stuck the raccoon in her freezer, where it waited for the student-artist to find it and take it to its new home. Ms. Nutsch brought the raccoon back to Denton, and the artists used it to learn more about raccoon's bodies. One student refused to be in the room when the raccoon was out, Iles said, but other than that, it served them well.

Another sculpture is a representation of a particular live animal. As the group was hard at work on the animals Crow requested, Iles got a phone call.

"Mr. Crow called and said we had left out the most important bird of all," Iles said with a smile. "The crow!"

Despite what people may think, Iles said, creating a realistic-looking crow is not an easy task. So, the artists observed a live crow, named George, at the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary in McKinney, in an effort to learn how to design a bronze version.

Each of the bronzes was made after a lengthy process of modeling the animals, making a mold, casting a wax pattern and finally, casting the bronze. The work was done in Iles' expanded studio at his home in Bolivar.

The bronze casting was done in a burnout furnace where temperatures ranged from 1,700 to 1,950 degrees Fahrenheit quite a hot place to be on a summer day, Iles noted.

Villafranca, a UNT graduate student who specializes in bronze casting, said he enjoyed working with the project and that he learned more about the art of bronze casting.

"I wish it was still going on," he said, adding that he normally makes pieces that are much smaller than the complex works done for the Crow Commission. "I was happy to get experience on life-size scale works," he said. The work was quite a bit more involved."

The bronze of each piece is about one-fourth of an inch thick, and the bodies of each animal are hollow. Most of the animals were created by combining several different pieces. The large deer is made up of about 12 separate pieces, all welded together.

The entire set contains about 1,600 pounds of bronze, and Iles said the set Crow donated to UNT is worth more than $80,000.

Although the quail appear to be flying into the sunset, and although the coyotes seem intent on hunting down their next meal, the pieces aren't going anywhere. Each one is attached to sturdy metal screws that are embedded in 900 to 1,500 pounds of concrete.

"They should be here for a while," Iles said.

After donating what would have been his own set of the sculptures to UNT, Crow decided that he wanted a set for himself and his family. Therefore, he commissioned Iles to create a third set for his own collection, meaning that there are now three identical sets, two in Dallas and one in Denton, of the unique Native Texas Wildlife Series.

For all his work and involvement with the project, Iles was happy to see the sculptures displayed in public. The only bronze piece he will have for himself, he said, is a mis-cast rattlesnake that couldn't be added to the complete sets.

The UNT series will be dedicated on Aug. 28, during the grand opening of the Environmental Education, Science and Technology Building at the corner of Hickory Street and Avenue C. A small, recently constructed creek in front of the building, which is faithfully guarded by the bronze crow, will be named Crow Creek during the ceremony.

Iles said he was impressed with Crow's dedication to the project.

"As far as supporting the arts, you couldn't ask for anybody better," he said.

Villafranca, who lives on a ranch in Wise County, said that since his exposure to the life-size works at UNT, he makes larger pieces, "significant contrasts to the table top bronzes" he did earlier.

He said he wants to continue using several of the techniques he learned while working on the wildlife series.

"I plan on keeping the flame burning," he said.

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Distributed by The Associated Press