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Community members check out a new art piece in downtown Rhinelander, Wis. \u201cThe Iron Hodag\u201d was created by artist Don Gaber. Dave Melancon\/WXPR<\/p>\nEau Claire artist Don Gaber created The Iron Hodag sculpture with metal pieces donated by Rhinelander area businesses and people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just made kind of a skeleton first, and then I came back to Rhinelander several times and gathered parts from people,\u201d said Gaber, explaining his process. \u201cThen I go back and I combine them and I fit them and I see what works, what doesn\u2019t work. It\u2019s kind of a long process because I want to make everything fit together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dozens of unique metal pieces ranging from street signs and railroad spikes to broad head axes and bicycle rims were used to create The Iron Hodag.<\/p>\n
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With an old airplane flap that reveals a secret message and knob that rings the bell, Gaber wants people to interact with the piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always done it where there\u2019s like little hidden gems in there,\u201d said Gaber.<\/p>\n
Community members check out a new art piece in downtown Rhinelander, Wis. \u201cThe Iron Hodag\u201d was created by artist Don Gaber. Dave Melancon\/WXPR<\/p>\n
Gaber has made sculptures that have been features in Eau Claire and other cities, but this was the first time he was commissioned for an art piece like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got sculptures in like six different cities, couple different states, and then the people there recognize them, and they\u2019ll either buy them for a business or for personal use,\u201d said Gaber. \u201cI\u2019ve done a couple of commissions, but this is the first one I\u2019ve actually done with the intent of satisfying the customer instead of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
This Hodag sculpture was based on Eugene Shepard\u2019s early iterations of the Hodag in the late 1800s, differentiating it from some of the happier looking Hodags painted around downtown Rhinelander.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original one had little smaller eyes and kind of squarish teeth and was kind of creepy looking. This is kind of based on that, with a little bit of the modern thrown in,\u201d said Gaber.<\/p>\n
Don Gaber was commissioned by Ron and Elsie Gaber, who were born and raised in Rhinelander and now live in Missouri.<\/p>\n
\u201cI graduated in 1967, just a few years ago, from the high school here,\u201d said Ron Gaber. \u201cI\u2019m a Hodag, and once a Hodag, always a Hodag.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, with the similar names you might assume they\u2019re related \u2014 and you\u2019d be right. Though the two didn\u2019t know that until after Ron randomly came across Don\u2019s artwork on Facebook and commissioned him to create a Hodag.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have just discovered each other. We met yesterday for the first time,\u201d said Ron. \u201cWe met remotely on Zoom during the process of building this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis dad was my grandfather\u2019s brother,\u201d added Don.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/image_1784227448736.jpg\")
Artist Don Gaber, left, and Ron Gaber at the unveiling of \u201cThe Iron Hodag\u201d sculpture in Rhinelander, Wis.Dave Melancon\/WXPR<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a fun process for Don to connect with his family and revisit Rhinelander where his father grew up just a couple blocks away from where the statue sits.<\/p>\n
Pieces of The Iron Hodag have ties to the city and his family, like the parts from a decommissioned machine from the papermill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was built, I think, in the \u201940s. My grandfather worked there 45 years,\u201d said Don Gaber. \u201cThe odds are some of the pieces from that machine he actually touched. He passed away in the 70s, so getting pieces that mean something to me and the community was important.\u201d<\/p>\n
ArtStart Community and Cultural Development Director Melinda Childs says the sculpture and the story behind it shows that everybody can be part of Rhinelander.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s one of my favorite things about Rhinelander is whether you\u2019re from here and you move away, or you\u2019re a transplant, or you have a cabin here, it kind of gets into your heart, and you want to do things to support it,\u201d said Childs.<\/p>\n
There is progress to create more public art in Rhinelander. Childs said she sees this sculpture as a jumping off point for more.<\/p>\n
Ron Gaber, who has long appreciated the arts, is happy to be contributing to that effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always had an appreciation for the arts, having gone through a liberal arts education. You appreciate diversity and change and different patterns,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just sort of been always built in me, and I like weird things. Art sometimes is weird, but it\u2019s so fun. Each person conceptualizes something a little bit differently, so it brings out the creativity in people as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Iron Hodag is his way to give back to the community he loves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re going to be proud of it,\u201d said Ron Gaber. \u201cI\u2019m really proud of it, and it brings pride to the city too.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is a scavenger hunt for The Iron Hodag to find all the different pieces it\u2019s made up of. It\u2019s available through the Rhinelander Area Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin Public Radio, \u00a9 Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eau Claire artist Don Gaber created The Iron Hodag sculpture with metal pieces donated by Rhinelander area businesses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[437,434,435,436,438,146,85,46],"class_list":["post-550983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}