By popular demand, the cowboy statues around the Y are getting a fresh coat of paint before Stampede this year.
Father-son muralist and painter team Dwayne Davis and Steven Davis-Gosling were out on a bright and sunny Tuesday afternoon on May 7 putting the finishing touches on the Mountain Racer Statue. The pair were in good spirits and had finished the bulk of the work over the previous weekend.
Davis said that after finishing up the statue by the Chevron, he and his son were going to put the primer on the Heart of a Champion Statue, depicting bull rider Gerald Palmantier, that same day. While Davis had earlier expressed an interest in keeping the statues pure white, he said that he was happy to be out painting them once again.
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“The city put out kind of a questionnaire, the people spoke and they wanted to paint it,” Davis said.
After the Heart of a Champion, Davis said he and his son will be working with chainsaw carver Ken Sheen of Pioneer Log Homes to repair and repaint the Cowboss Statue. It’s in need of a new hat, Davis said, as the current one’s brim has been broken.
“I’m not bad with a paintbrush but not so good with a chainsaw,” Davis joked.
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Sheen and Davis have already created a replacement hat and at some point in the near future will be fitting it to the Cowboss’ head. After that’s done the statue will be painted like all the others, as per Sheen’s and the public’s preference, Davis said.
His goal is to have all the statues repainted as soon as possible, weather permitting, and at the very least before Stampede. These new coats of paint should last about two years, Davis said, as they’re exposed to all the forms of weather that are tough on paint.
Davis and his son will also begin offering their window painting services for interested businesses in the next few weeks.
patrick.davies@wltribune.com
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