{"id":10305,"date":"2025-07-15T00:05:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/10305\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T00:05:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T00:05:06","slug":"cheyennes-capital-avenue-bronze-project-closes-in-on-100-sculptures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/10305\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheyenne\u2019s Capital Avenue Bronze Project Closes In On 100 Sculptures"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHEYENNE \u2014 Nathaniel Trelease\u2019s first experience with bronze statues was as a young child in front of\u00a0the Wyoming State\u00a0Capitol.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To a small child, they were\u00a0larger-than-life\u00a0giants that couldn\u2019t help but fire his imagination.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mother would always take us on walks to see the statues in front of the Capitol,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I always thought that was incredibly inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the kind of inspiration Trelease hopes will fire up a new generation as Cheyenne\u2019s Capitol\u00a0Avenue Bronze\u00a0Project closes in on its 100th sculpture. There have been 82 installed so far, and another nine are already spoken for and in the works.<\/p>\n

That leaves just nine more to reach an even 100 statues for the project. The original goal was for just 32 statues.<\/p>\n

Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms had been dreaming of the Capitol\u00a0Avenue\u00a0Bronze\u00a0Project since 2008, but it wasn\u2019t until his dream met Trelease\u2019s inspiration that it really took off.<\/p>\n

Deselms\u00a0had a dream one night<\/a>\u00a0in 2008 of bronze statues lining\u00a017th Street, one for every corner, all illuminated and encased in fragile globes of glass.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just bronzes everywhere,\u201d Deselms said. \u201cAnd I think I may have done a little bit of skipping along the avenue in the dream. I was just so happy that (all the artists) would have a permanent part of downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a beautiful dream, but that\u2019s all it was until one day in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trelease was in Deselms\u2019 art studio talking about some framework Deselms had done for him. Along the way he mentioned his ambition to find a legacy project that would honor his mother.<\/p>\n

Deselms, meanwhile, had already mentioned his dream of putting bronze statues up on\u00a017th Street\u00a0to Trelease before.<\/p>\n

This time when Deselms mentioned it, Trelease\u2019s eyes lit up.<\/p>\n

\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)\"ForFor Cheyenne art dealer Harvey Deselms, dreams really do come true. He dreamed of bronze sculptures lining every corner of Capital Avenue, and now the Capital Avenue Bronze Project is closing in on its 100th installation. (Courtesy Photo)Arrow leftArrow right\u2018A Project About Legacy\u2019<\/p>\n

The street he was seeing in his imagination wasn\u2019t\u00a017th Street, though.<\/p>\n

It was the Capitol Avenue of his childhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved seeing Esther Hobart Morris and Chief Washakie outside the Capitol, those monumental bronzes,\u201d Trelease told Cowboy State Daily. \u201cYou look down the street toward the depot, which hadn\u2019t been remodeled yet, but it was still there as a reminder of the history of the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in between the two was this great English Gothic cathedral that\u2019s, what, 114 years old. That was always the most beautiful and inspiring set of blocks in Cheyenne.\u201d<\/p>\n

Imagine those same blocks with a bronze on every corner, Trelease thought.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They would tell a story that captured state history, and they couldn\u2019t help but inspire new generations of children.<\/p>\n

There couldn\u2019t be a better tribute to his mother, who had similarly inspired his own childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was always a project about legacy,\u201d he said. \u201cHow do we remember the iconic figures in Wyoming\u2019s history? The men, the women, the pioneers, the explorers, the Native Americans, the statesmen, the heroes and the artists, and make that a permanent part of our community?\u201d<\/p>\n

Closing In On 100<\/p>\n

All 82 of the bronze statues inspired by Trelease and Deselms\u2019 Capitol Avenue project have happened organically.<\/p>\n

Deselms and the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project Committee don\u2019t dictate to donors what the subject matter will be. They let families decide that.<\/p>\n

The results, Deselms said, have been better than if they\u2019d tried to force a certain vision onto the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sculptures have captured not just\u00a0the history of\u00a0Cheyenne and Wyoming, but personality as well. Cowboy culture shines out from\u00a0them, and it\u2019s captivating to the tourists who visit each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Deselms said a week doesn\u2019t go by that he doesn\u2019t see someone from out of town taking a selfie with one of the statues or a small child hugging or kissing one of the animal sculptures.<\/p>\n

Another point of pride, Deselms and Trelease say, is the fact there is no public money involved in the project at all. It is 100% privately funded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three Years To 32 Statues? Try 20 Months<\/p>\n

Their goal in the beginning was much more modest than 100 statues, Deselms said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2021, we gave ourselves three years to get to 32 sculptures,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Patrick Collins, who met with the two men in October 2021, was excited about the project, but dubious that it would\u00a0happen\u00a0in the short time frame Deselms and Trelease envisioned.<\/p>\n

There was good reason for the mayor\u2019s skepticism. Deselms had already spent years raising $100 here and $100 there from 2010 to 2021. That had been successful in installing exactly\u00a0three sculptures to that point.<\/p>\n

At that rate, it would take many, many years to install a statue on every block of Capitol Avenue.<\/p>\n

But sometimes, timing is everything. This timing happened to be right after the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0Instead of taking three years to put up 32\u00a0bronzes, it only took 20 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople didn\u2019t know if that was a big nothing, or if that was something and most of us would be gone,\u201d Deselms said. \u201cI think we all know somebody who had it, probably know someone who died of it. That gave people time to think about if I\u2019m going to leave a legacy, I probably should just not think about it but do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dixie Roberts, who was one of four who put up the first statues, agrees that has been a motivating factor for many.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all kind of looked at our mortality,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd people wanted to honor their families and their history and the legacy of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because of that, Roberts said the committee hasn\u2019t even had to go ask someone to put up a bronze.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come to Harvey and ask, \u2018What can I do?\u2019\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s never been work. It\u2019s been just an act of love, I think, from all the donors who have participated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChiefChief Washakie is one of the newer bronze sculptures around Cheyenne’s Capitol neighborhood. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily)\"ViceVice Admiral Francis McInerney perpetually looks out over Cheyenne at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and 18th Street. Winner of the Navy Cross, a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit Medal, McInerney had a remarkable military career. The sculptor was Joel Turner and Donors were John T. McInerney and Sara Murphy, along with Diane and Daniel E. White, Catherine and Edward F. Murray III. (Ren\u00e9e Jean, Cowboy State Daily)\"NellieNellie Tayloe Ross, first female Wyoming governor, looks sharp as if about to turn and walk to Wyoming\u2019s state Capitol in the background. (Ren\u00e9e Jean, Cowboy State Daily)\"EstherEsther Hobart Morris, left, and Justice Willis Van Devanter in front of Wyoming Supreme Court building. (Cowboy State Daily Staff)\""Mary“Mary O’Hara” at Capitol Avenue and 20th Street. (Courtesy Capitol Avenue Bronze Project)\""Friesian“Friesian Pair” at Carey Avenue and 19th Street. (Courtesy Capitol Avenue Bronze Project)\""Darn“Darn Wind” at O’Neil Avenue and 17th Street. (Courtesy Capitol Avenue Bronze Project)Arrow leftArrow rightHard To Choose Favorites<\/p>\n

Roberts, like Trelease and Deselms, has many favorite statues among the 82 statues that now no longer just line Capitol Avenue, but have popped up in many other areas of town.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to have just one favorite,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause every time there\u2019s a new one\u00a0\u2026\u00a0they just seem to keep getting better and better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then you go back and look at one that didn\u2019t seem that important at the time, or wasn\u2019t that significant and didn\u2019t move you, and, as life experiences change, you look again and all of a sudden it means more.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stories behind the statues are also a factor in some of Roberts\u2019 favorites.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always learning something I didn\u2019t know anything about,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cLike the railroad one down on the corner by the Albany. The man who donated that, Jim Ehernberger, is a longtime railroad historian and worked for the railroad for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sculpture is called \u201cComparing Time\u201d and shows a railroad engineer and a railroad conductor comparing watches to synchronize their watches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I learned from that one is that we have standard time because of the railroad,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Prior to Nov. 18, 1883, there was only local, or \u201csun time,\u201d which was based on the sun\u2019s travel across the earth\u2019s sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sun time varied from one town to the next, and railroads couldn\u2019t rely on that to schedule their trains. They had to synchronize.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was\u00a012:02\u00a0in Cheyenne, it might be\u00a012:27\u00a0in Laramie,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd so that\u2019s why they all had their watches and were coordinating times. Because of that cumbersome process, that\u2019s why we have standard time now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some stories are more personal, like one of the sculptures that will be installed this week that shows a farmer named Bill Hutton standing with some hay bales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The eagle-eyed will note that the \u201cHaymaker\u201d sculpture is missing a thumb.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a hazard of agriculture,\u201d Deselms said. \u201cBecause, for example, my brother lost his arm in an agricultural accident. Bill lost his thumb. So, they said, \u2018Be sure to sculpt him without that thumb.\u2019 That\u2019s part of the story of agriculture we can have there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Capturing Untold History<\/p>\n

Some of the statues reveal little-known history that\u2019s interesting and, even if only oral in nature, nonetheless sheds light on the personality of the state and its culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe folks who funded the statue of F.E. Warren, their ancestor was Benjamin Franklin\u00a0Ketchum,\u201d Deselms said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ketchum was a Democrat, while Warren was a Republican.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got in a fist fight on the steps of the Capitol way back when, and that\u2019s a story I had never heard,\u201d\u00a0Deselms\u00a0said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that is in any history books, but it\u2019s such a cool story.\u201d<\/p>\n

A descendant of\u00a0Ketchum, Beverly Black, and her husband Gordon decided to fund the statue to highlight not just F.E. Warren, but their family legends.<\/p>\n

According to Beverly, her great-grandfather was giving a speech on the Capitol steps that Warren objected to, which led to the fistfight. Who won the fight that day has been lost to time. Though Warren would go on to serve as a U.S. senator as well as\u00a0Wyoming\u00a0governor.<\/p>\n

Another oral history Deselms has heard involved Vern Elliott, who was in Buffalo Bill Cody\u2019s Wild West Show in London.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they were there, it rained all the time,\u201d Deselms said. \u201cAnd it rained so much, they couldn\u2019t sell any tickets, so they almost went bankrupt. They had to sell all the Native American costumes, the guns, the stock \u2014 everything \u2014 just to have enough money for everyone to travel back to these states.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great stories we get to hear like that are a treat,\u201d Deslems said. \u201cThose kinds of stories aren\u2019t really documented.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now those legends have been captured for all time in bronze for\u00a0everyone\u00a0to learn about.<\/p>\n

Deselms believes it\u2019s having a positive impact on tourism, as well as just the \u201cvibe\u201d of the downtown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a dozen or so people have told me that they\u2019ve looked around at all the sculptures and decided to stay an extra night,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also been told by former residents who return to visit Cheyenne that the city has a different vibe now, and they credit all of the artwork, from bronzes to murals and the giant boots at various businesses.<\/p>\n

Once the Capitol Avenue Bronze Project gets to 100, Deselms has already decided what he\u2019s going to do, and that\u2019s to keep putting up more.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got nine more to 100,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd 10 more to 101. And 101 is going to be just as exciting as 100, because it will start a whole new block of statues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ren\u00e9e Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHEYENNE \u2014 Nathaniel Trelease\u2019s first experience with bronze statues was as a young child in front of\u00a0the Wyoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-10305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}