VAIL, Colorado — Award-winning sculptor Gail Folwell, represented by Claggett/Rey Gallery in Vail, was recently commissioned by Vail Resorts to create a one-of-a-kind bronze sculpture of a downhill skier for its Art in Public Places program.

Titled ‘The Edge,’ the sculpture will be a two-times life size rendition of a downhill ski racer and the centerpiece of Vail’s new village base area, part of a billion dollar renaissance being undertaken by Vail Resorts and the Town of Vail. The scheduled unveiling is Spring 2008. A smaller bronze version of ‘The Edge’ is currently on display at Claggett/Rey Gallery in Vail, along with other bronze sculpture crafted by Folwell.

Folwell’s treatment of a downhill skier was chosen as a fitting tribute to Vail’s history as well as to winter Olympians, many of whom have lived, trained and raced in Vail over the past 50-plus years.

The commissioned piece will take more than seven months to build and is expected to weigh at least 3,000 pounds. It is currently under construction at Folwell’s Boulder-based studio.

Honored in 2002 as one of the “Leading American Sculptors” by Southwest Art, Gail Folwell’s sculpture expresses physical and emotional energy through the abstraction of the human form, built upon a strong foundation of anatomy, gesture and the tactile handling of surfaces.

Her art forms include large and small scale, bronze, clay and styrothane for public and private collections as well as exhibitions including The National Academy of Design, National Sculpture Society, National Hockey League, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Vail Valley Foundation/Gerald Ford Amphitheater and leading galleries in Denver, Vail, Santa Fe, St. Helena, Ca., Cannon Beach, Ore., and Palm Dessert, Ca.

Visit www.folwellstudios.com or call 720-334-1164 for more information about Folwell’s work.