\u201cNobody had hit a bronze before we put the bronzes up,\u201d he said. \u201cI can\u2019t calculate the odds in my head, but I think we\u2019re doing pretty well with only three hits out of 82 pieces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Battered Bronze Bunny<\/p>\n
The incident occurred around 10:30 a.m. Sunday. Deselms said the incident involved two vehicles, a Ford Explorer and\u00a0a Jeep, that smacked into each other and careened toward the southeast corner of the intersection where \u201cLazy Days\u201d had been installed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne vehicle hit the pedestal and knocked the bunny off,\u201d he said. \u201cIt flipped and landed on its feet, so to speak, but not after scraping on the ground. The pedestal was turned over and messed up badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pedestal had been built by Harold F. Johnson Masonry in Cheyenne. It consisted of several blocks of sandstone, some of which were shattered or dislodged from the spots where they had been mortared into place.<\/p>\n
Despite the damage, Deselms said both the bronze and the pedestal survived mostly intact. The vehicles didn\u2019t fare as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not an auto mechanic or a body guy, but they looked to be totaled,\u201d he said. \u201cWheels bent and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deselms said the drivers of the vehicles appeared uninjured, but they were taken to a local hospital for evaluation. Based on what he observed at the scene, he believes excessive speed might have been a factor in the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there was that much damage to the vehicles and the pedestal was completely knocked off, my guess is that they were going faster than the posted speed limit,\u201d he said. \u201c<\/p>\n
![\""Lazy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lazy-Days-sculpture-hit-608085510_10239085483011549_9171295456415225826_n1.5.26.jpg\")
“Lazy Days,” a bronze sculpture of a rabbit in downtown Cheyenne, became the latest to be hit and damaged during a Sunday multi-car crash. It\u2019s the third time a driver has taken out one of Cheyenne\u2019s 100 bronze sculptures. (Courtesy Harvey Deselms)Bureaucratic Bronze Buffer<\/p>\n
\u201cLazy Days\u201d was one of the 100 bronzes being erected in Cheyenne as part of\u00a0the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project<\/a>. It\u2019s an effort Deselms, artists, and Cheyenne residents have been championing for almost two decades.<\/p>\n As of January 2026, 82 bronze sculptures have been installed. Deselms said another 11 pieces, and possibly more, will be installed before the end of the year.<\/p>\n This is the third time one of the Cheyenne bronzes have been hit by a vehicle.\u00a0One of those incidents occurred right outside of Deselms Fine Art in January 2025, when a truck knocked over a $95,000 sculpture and nearly missed another valued at $165,000.<\/p>\n Deselms said all the incidents have ended with the same result. The bronze sculptures were more or less fine, while the vehicles were much worse for wear.<\/p>\n \u201cIn those incidents, there was little damage to the pedestals or the bronzes, but the cars looked totaled,\u201d he said. \u201cThey must have been clipping along at a very high rate of speed to generate that much force.\u201d<\/p>\n All the bronzes are privately funded, but ownership transfers to the city of Cheyenne once they\u2019re in place. That means the city\u2019s insurance can cover damage caused by accidents or unidentified perpetrators, but driver-related incidents will be billed to the responsible driver\u2019s insurance.<\/p>\n