Kalispell Art Casting Works on Largetst Project Ever

From left, Jeff Stephan and Harvey Fairchild work on one fifteen life and a quarter bronze horses on Monday afternoon at Kalispell Art Casting.  Jeff Stephan is the lead welder on the project. He's been with KAC for seven years. According to Stephan these sculptures come to him in 40 to 50 pieces. Once they are welded together Stephan will begin chasing in the details. The horses are the work of Canadian artists Robert Spaith and Rich Roenisch, both of Longview, Alberta. When complete the sculpture, On the Banks of the Bow, will be a permanent fixture at the Calgary Stampede. The fifteenth and final sculpture is due at the foundry this month. Kalispell Art Casting got involved with the project in April of 2008. They did an estimate of the amount of bronze that would be needed to complete the sculpture and came up with 16,000 pounds. Eight tons of bronze. This is the biggest project the KAC has ever done. The first piece arrived at the foundry in March of 2009. If they finish all the pieces this year the project will have taken almost three years. The project is expected to wrap up this year. The completed sculpture will be able to be viewed in 2012 at the Calgary Stampede.