{"id":887454,"date":"2026-10-19T07:08:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/887454\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T07:08:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T07:08:22","slug":"sacramento-sculptor-honors-robert-louis-stevensons-honeymoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/887454\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento sculptor honors Robert Louis Stevenson\u2019s honeymoon"},"content":{"rendered":"

The inspiration started with two boys needing a place to sit.<\/p>\n

Eric Hanson, who grew up in Sacramento, and his wife were living several years ago across the street from a Napa Valley middle school.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a split-rail fence around our house and the kids would wait outside for their rides to be picked up,\u201d Hanson said. \u201cOne day she says, \u2018There\u2019s two boys sitting on the fence. That\u2019s not good. The fence is going to fall apart. Go out and tell them to get off.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanson did as he was told, but the boys returned the next day and sat on the fence again. This time, Hanson brought them chairs which they used the remainder of that school year. But Hanson got to thinking:i A bench might serve a better purpose.<\/p>\n

This realization has helped lead to the creation of a bench with life-size statues of 19th century author Robert Louis Stevenson, his wife Fanny Stevenson and their Irish setter cocker spaniel ChuChu. The bench, which is the work of Sacramento sculptor Garr Ugalde, will be dedicated Nov. 7, near where the Stevensons honeymooned in 1880 at the abandoned Silverado Mine.<\/p>\n

Stevenson, who was largely unknown to American readers at the time of his honeymoon, wrote about it in an 1883 travel memoir, \u201cThe Silverado Squatters,\u201d bringing attention to Calistoga. The setting also helped inspire the work he is arguably most known for, his 1883 novel \u201cTreasure Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the monument came about<\/p>\n

Ugalde and Hanson were talking at a holiday party in East Sacramento held by the family of R. Burnett Miller, who served as Sacramento\u2019s mayor in the early 1980s. Hanson told Ugalde his idea for a bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Well, how long you been thinking about this?\u2019\u201d Ugalde said. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018About seven years.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

They exchanged information.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019m calling you Monday,\u2019\u201d Ugalde said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sculptor Sculptor Garr Ugalde gazes up at a model of Fanny Osbourne Stevenson as he stands among models of Robert Louis Stevenson and the Stevensons’ dog, Chuchu, in his Sacramento studio last month. Ugalde is creating a life-size bronze composition of Stevenson, his wife, Fanny, and Chuchu. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Ugalde was already an artist of note. Based in Sacramento since 1993, he has created works that include a bronze cast of a tree slice displayed at Cesar Chavez Plaza. Ugalde created that in the 2000s in collaboration with Kerry Crutcher, who died in 2023, and it is known for having dates on it pinpointing the tree\u2019s rings and what was going on in the world at the time.<\/p>\n

Heather Fargo, Sacramento\u2019s mayor at the time the slab was made, has not forgotten it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt adds something playful to the city, it adds certainly something interesting and I think it\u2019s a source of pride for a lot of people who live in the city,\u201d Fargo said.<\/p>\n

\"Sculptor Sculptor Garr Ugalde shows an early sketch for a sculpture of Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Osbourne Stevenson, and their dog, Chuchu, as he stands his Sacramento studio last month. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

The Stevenson commission came with a $210,000 budget. Hanson formed, the Robert Louis Stevenson Public Art Project, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, which helped raise money.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople say, \u2018How come they haven\u2019t done this before?\u2019\u201d Hanson said. \u201cI think, \u2018Well, it\u2019s not that easy and it\u2019s not cheap and the bronze process is pretty complicated.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sculptor Sculptor Garr Ugalde holds a small model of Robert Louis Stevenson’s head for what will become a life-size bronze sculpture of Stevenson in his studio in Sacramento last month. Stevenson, along with his wife, Fanny Osbourne Stevenson, and their dog, Chuchu, are the subjects of the Robert Louis Stevenson Public Art Project sculpture. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com Creating the monument<\/p>\n

Ugalde\u2019s project went through an evolution, both in how it was made and what it depicted.<\/p>\n

Mary Miller, whose family held the holiday party where Hanson and Ugalde met one another, said she had seen the monument while it was underway.<\/p>\n

\"Models Models of hands created by sculptor Garr Ugalde for a life-size bronze composition of Robert Louis Stevenson, Fanny Osbourne Stevenson and their dog, Chuchu, are on display in his studio in Sacramento last month. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole process is fascinating,\u201d Miller said. \u201cIt starts with clay and then it evolves and then you can shape things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, Ugalde wasn\u2019t going to include Fanny in the monument. This changed after Hanson and Ugalde attended a reading at the Robert Louis Stevenson Silverado Museum in Saint Helena of Camille Perry\u2019s \u201cA Wilder Shore,\u201d a 2024 book about the Stevensons\u2019 love story<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The work pays homage to the Stevensons\u2019 honeymoon at the mine, which went bust by the time they arrived. They stayed in an abandoned bunkhouse. Stevenson set about interviewing locals about why the mine had failed. He also took time to explore the abandoned mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe described one tunnel as\u2026 looking like a treasure grotto from a pirate\u2019s horde,\u201d said Dean Enderlin, board president of the Sharpsteen Museum of Calistoga History. \u201cHis biographers think that that may have been an inspiration for his later works.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sculptor Sculptor Garr Ugalde holds a book by author Camille Peri in his studio in Sacramento on last month. Ugalde said the book changed the direction of his Robert Louis Stevenson Public Art Project to include Stevenson\u2019s wife, Fanny Osbourne Stevenson. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Still, even with a clear connection to local history, Hanson and Ugalde struggled to place to the statue. For a time, it appeared that the statue would be installed in Saint Helena, though those talks ultimately didn\u2019t come together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Saint Helena had gone through with everything, we\u2019d have been done over a year ago with this,\u201d Ugalde said. \u201cBut that threw us off. Because we spent about a year going back and forth with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enderlin said that Ugalde had reached out to his organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe approached the museum about the idea of perhaps displaying it on our premises,\u201d Enderlin said. \u201cBut it\u2019s big enough we couldn\u2019t find a suitable location for it. It really needed an area that was large enough to accommodate it and do it justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, the monument with the Stevensons and their dogs will be on display at the historic Calistoga Depot, where the couple arrived before heading on to the abandoned Silverado Mine.<\/p>\n

\"A A model of a life-size bronze statue of Robert Louis Stevenson, his wife, Fanny Osbourne Stevenson, and their dog, Chuchu, is displayed on a computer screen in sculptor Garr Ugalde\u2019s Sacramento studio. REN\u00c9E C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

\u201cCalistoga does like public art,\u201d Hanson said. \u201cBut they don\u2019t have anything like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ugalde appreciated the opportunity, saying it was great to be part of an effort to bring a \u201chistorical event almost kind of to life even though these are inanimate objects.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted the significance of Robert Louis Stevenson to Napa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got Silverado Trail,\u201d Ugalde said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got Robert Louis Stevenson State Park\u2026 The tagline of Napa Valley is, \u2018And the wine is bottled poetry.\u2019 That\u2019s from \u2018Silverado Squatters.\u2019 I mean, it\u2019s the tagline of Napa Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow More of Our Reporting on Uniquely<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Graham Womack<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Graham Womack is a general assignment reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining The Bee full-time in September 2025, he freelanced for the publication for several years. His work has won several California Journalism Awards and spurred state legislation.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The inspiration started with two boys needing a place to sit. Eric Hanson, who grew up in Sacramento,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":887455,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,229,88],"class_list":["post-887454","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\/887454","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=887454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/887454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/887455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=887454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=887454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=887454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}