I stopped by to visit the Lonely Sheepherder yesterday, Sunday, July 28. He stood on a concrete pedestal beside the walking path, just below Pagosa Peak Open School,…casting his gaze to the northeast, in the general direction of the federally-designated Weminuche Wilderness.
Looking for his sheep? Historically, an Archuleta County sheepherder would be in responsible for perhaps 1,000 sheep and lambs.
‘The Lonely Sheepherder’ is not the official name of this particular bronze sculpture, however. Noted Pagosa sculptor Chad Haspels had cast a different name into the bronze base:
“Weminuche Meadows.”
The previous morning — Saturday, July 27 — the sheepherder was not lonely at all. In fact, he was being celebrated with an official dedication ceremony. About 60 people had gathered at 9am along on the walking path that curves around the Aspen Village wetlands near the community’s Walmart store.
The occasion — coordinated with the 22nd annual Spanish Fiesta, which would take place the same evening at the Fairgrounds — was the unveiling of a bronze sculpture created by Chad Haspels with the assistance of local foundry owner Roberto Garcia.
The audience included many of the people who had helped arrange the funding for the $50,000 sculpture, a collaborative financial effort by the Town of Pagosa Springs Public Arts Committee, the Pagosa Springs Area Tourism Board, and the Pagosa Springs Arts Council.
As we waited for the unveiling and ceremonial speeches, I chatted briefly with Mr. Haspels and with Roberto Garcia, another Pagosa artist, who handled the casting of the bronze sculpture at his foundry in Aspen Springs.
Most of Mr, Haspels’ numerous public sculptures here in Pagosa are wood carvings, so this commission marks something of a departure for him, as well as for the Public Arts Committee.
Some of the previous commissioned artworks funded by the Town committee have been, in my humble opinion, rather ‘amateurish’ compared to the public art on display in certain other communities.
Knowing Mr. Haspels’ work, I expected this bronze sculpture to be the opposite of ‘amateurish’, by comparison.
But as the unveiling approached, we hadn’t yet seen the sheepherder. He was waiting patiently under a canvas cloth, with a belt of red ribbon.
We only knew that he was a sheepherder, and that he represented something about Pagosa’s history.
I told Mr. Haspels I was surprised at the price for the sculpture. In my experience, a life-size bronze statue typically costs in excess of $50,000. Mr. Haspels explained that he’d hoped to include some bronze sheep as part of the installation, but unfortunately, the budget allowed for the sheepherder, but not the sheep.
It’s possible that a future fundraising effort will allow for the addition of some sheep to complete the scene.
Some of the people responsible for assembling the collaborative funding for this project posed, smiling, with a Chamber of Commerce banner.
The Spanish Fiesta Royalty looked on, awaiting their turn to join the celebration.
As the Royalty gathered next to the sculpture, we heard a welcoming speech from Amanda Gadomski, representing the Town’s Public Arts Committee.
“This project isn’t just about our artist, Chad, who did a wonderful job with this sculpture… I’m so happy to reveal it. But there’s a lot of rich culture that happened historically here [in Archuleta County] and I feel so fortunate to get to work with Leonard [Martinez] and learn all about this. But this became a project that I hope we can continue in the future, in terms of adding to it, and make it something of our history.
“So I really want to take the time to thank the Town of Pagosa Springs and the Arts Council for the funding that happened for this project. Also want to thank the Spanish Fiesta for having their event this evening — if you haven’t bought your tickets yet, go get tickets — because it really connects the sheepherding and the history of our area. And Leonard is going to speak about that.
“But mostly, I want to thank our artist for being inspired to connect the dots. And so we want to dedicate this beautiful sculpture this morning, ”
As the audience applauded, Mr. Haspels and Mr. Martinez removed the canvas drape and revealed the Lonely Sheepherder. Although, as I mentioned, he was not lonely at the moment.
The sculptor then had a chance to give some background on the project, and the subject matter.
“Thanks you everybody for coming. I really appreciate it. It’s nice to see such a large turnout…
“First of all, I’d like to thank the Town, the Tourism Board and the Arts Council for coming together to make this project happen. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time we’ve had multiple groups come together to collaborate on a public art project in Pagosa. So I appreciate the vision with that, and the openness for each group to take part in that.
“And I appreciate the openness for this concept.”
We’ll hear more about what, exactly, this sculpture represents, in Part Two.
“I’d also like to thank Roberto Garcia for help with the casting. For those of you who don’t know Roberto, he’s a local bronze sculptor. He has his own foundry, which is a rather unique thing in the bronze world. So whenever I’ve had a bronze project, which is not very often, he’s always opened up his studio to help me work with him, and his expertise and experience is far above mine, in terms of the casting process. Every time I work with him, I learn something new. So thanks, Roberto…”
There’s more to share about the dedication ceremony, and the history behind the sculpture, but skipping ahead to the end of the dedication ceremony, here’s a photo of Roberto and Chad posing together with their joint work.
I didn’t really need to title this editorial series, “The Lonely Sheepherder”. That’s not a name anyone else is using.
Obviously, the name chosen by the artist — “Weminuche Meadows” — reflects a more expansive concept…
…An Hispano sheepherder and his sheep dogs and maybe 1,000 sheep, in a high mountain meadow, surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature.
And the heartbreaking loneliness of that lifestyle?