Jesse Swickard {Sculpture/Artist}
Press
The following was written in the Oregonian on July 11, 2013
New outdoor sculpture comes to Wilsonville fun center
Jesse Swickard holds a model of his new steel sculpture titled "Destiny" in front of Wilsonville's Family Fun Center & Bullwinkle's Restaurant. Behind the new sculpture, a truck prepares to haul away another piece of Swickard's work, called "Modern Bloom." (Justin Runquist)
Over the past decade, Jesse Swickard has dotted many Pacific Northwest cities with his large-scale steel sculptures.
Oregon, Washington and California are home to about 30 of the Wilsonville artist's works, many of which reside in Clackamas County. And now, his latest piece stands in his hometown in front of the Family Fun Center & Bullwinkle's Restaurant on SW Town Center Loop West.
Early Wednesday, Swickard, 36, and his friend Mick Peppmeier ventured out to the Fun Center parking lot to install "Destiny," a statue of a horse standing on its hind legs atop a seven-foot-tall pedestal.
Swickard spent the last two years putting together the roughly 420-pound sculpture, which he made as a tribute to his childhood horseback riding experiences.
"We actually rode in Wilsonville before it was really developed," he said. "It was just a whole different place. So, it's kind of an iconic image for me."
The sculpture was originally set to stand outside the Wilsonville Fred Meyer, Swickard said. But the deal fell through; now, he's looking to sell it for $30,000.
The new sculpture takes the place in the Fun Center parking lot of "Modern Bloom," another piece of Swickard's works. After removing "Modern Bloom," Swickard said he plans to repaint the sculpture and showcase it in Redmond in the next few months.
-- Justin Runquist
July 11, 2013 at 3:49 PM
