Former Bigfork resident picked to sculpt Goldwater statue for national display

A former Bigfork resident living in Sonoita, Ariz. will sculpt a statue of Barry M. Goldwater for display in National Statuary Hall, part of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

The Arizona Historical Advisory Commission last week selected Deborah Copenhaver Fellows to sculpt the statue of “Mr. Conservative,” a five-term U.S. senator from Arizona and 1964 presidential candidate.

“Everything about this project is pleasing to me; the people I’m working with, the individual I’m doing and the placement. It’s just a dream,” said Copenhaver Fellows, who lived in Bigfork for 11 years.

She now lives in Sonoita with her husband Fred Fellows, who lived in Bigfork for 40 years. Each of their children — son Fred Jr. and daughter Fabienne — continue to live in Flathead Valley.

Since 1971, Copenhaver Fellows has sculpted nearly two dozen public monuments.

Her works include the Montana Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Missoula; the Inland Northwest Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Spokane; and the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Olympia, Wash.

Her first commissioned bronze was of James N. Glover, done for the city of Spokane when she was 19 years old.

Copenhaver Fellows said she usually works with Kalispell Art Casting to cast her sculptures. This statute will be done with an Arizona company, as required for the project.

Every state has two donated statues on display in Statuary Hall to recognize their prominent citizens.

The Goldwater statue will join Arizona’s statue of Father Eusebio Kino.

It will replace a statue of John Campbell Greenway done by Gutzon Borglum, a sculptor famous for creating the presidents’ faces at Mount Rushmore.

Borglum’s statue has been in Statuary Hall since 1930 and will return to the state to go on display at the Arizona Capitol.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.