Great bear graces Bigfork eatery
Scott Johnson, left, owner of Grizzly Jack’s in Bigfork and artist Alan Derber, of Ferndale, guide a 4,000 pound, 12-foot-8-inch-tall steel grizzly bear into place in front of the bar and restaurant. Derber was commissioned by Johnson to create the larger-than-life bear to be displayed by the highway in front of the saloon on Montana 35. Craig Moore/Daily Inter Lake
A new patron took up permanent residence at Grizzly Jack's in Bigfork on Friday: a 2-ton steel grizzly bear just shy of 13 feet tall.
Alan Derber, owner of Great Bear Metals in Ferndale, built the sculpture for the restaurant entirely of welded steel. He began the project in February, and on Friday morning the metal beast was moved to its new home in front of Grizzly Jack's.
Scott Johnson, the restaurant's owner, had originally hired Derber to make all the chandeliers and metalwork inside Grizzly Jack's. When that was finished, Derber suggested building the giant grizzly.
"I've done other large sculptures, but I've never done a bear before," he said. "This is probably the first big sculpture I've done since I've been in Montana."
Before moving to the Flathead in 1998, Derber made similar large steel sculptures for schools in Wisconsin. Johnson was impressed with the photos in Derber's portfolio and agreed to let him make the bear.
Derber started studying photographs of grizzlies so he could get the proportions just right. Then he took his preliminary sketches to Johnson.
"Al's really a remarkable fellow," Johnson said. "I just said, 'Hey, Al, that looks perfect to me. Go for it.'"
Derber worked on the 12-foot-8-inch sculpture for five months.
"It's pretty challenging because it looks furry," he said. "To make it look that way, it takes a lot of labor and a lot of small parts and pieces."
It took six 8-by-10-foot sheets of three-sixteenth-inch steel, to be precise. Once the fur was welded in place, Derber coated the sculpture with an acid patina finish, which created the bear's amber color.
A flatbed trailer hauled the finished statue to its new home in front of Grizzly Jack's, and an excavator was used to hoist it atop a steel platform. Derber then welded it into place.
Next year, a sculpture of a mountain man on a spooking horse will go up next to it, Johnson said. Until that time, he's pleased with the restaurant's new mascot.
"I love it," he said. "It's neat. It's a massive, big thing."
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com