Avon hotel features new sculpture created by employee
Nicholas LoFaro is a sculptor who created an elk with recycled materials for the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa
Tricia Swenson/Vail Daily
It’s not unusual for a lodge, restaurant or business to have a signature art piece as part of its décor and identity. For the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa in Avon, the new “Royal Elk/Wapiti the Forest King” sculpture – in a prominent location out front – was created by one of the hotel’s employees.
The metallic elk sculpture is the creation of Nicholas LoFaro, a true local who was born in Vail.
“When my mother was in labor, a buck deer hit my parent’s car and they got in a wreck on the way to hospital. So, it’s kind of been in my destiny to create something with antlers,” LoFaro joked.
LoFaro left the Vail Valley to attend college at Colorado State University and was going for a degree in sculpture but ended up getting a degree in English, focusing on creative writing. Like many who grew up here, he returned to the valley with his wife three years ago. LoFaro started LoFaro Metalarts Ltd. and has created many works of public art that are on display in Denver and other locations on the Front Range and on the Western Slope in Grand Junction and Palisade.
“Instead of working with particular galleries, I like doing public art where more people can see it,” LoFaro said.
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You won’t be able to miss “Royal Elk/Wapiti the Forest King.” It stands proudly in the flower bed in the front of the hotel. “I researched elk and found information on the largest elk ever and I based him off the world record elk,” LoFaro said. With antlers and all, the sculpture stands over 10-feet tall and weighs more than 400 pounds.
The medium is reclaimed steel and LoFaro said that he is constantly collecting, from picking things up from the side of the road, visiting old farmsteads, flea markets and garage sales to buying things online. If you look closely, you’ll see bike chains, saw blades, wrenches, horseshoes, silverware and more.
“I used old spoons from the Maya restaurant when it closed down, before Stoke & Rye opened and those spoons make up the nose of the elk,” LoFaro said.
It’s fitting that the sculpture was constructed with reclaimed materials since the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa was Colorado’s first Silver LEED-certified hotel.
The idea to have LoFaro create a sculpture for the Westin Riverfront was hatched while he was at work as the lead bartender at the Westin’s popular Lobby Bar. He was having a conversation with Brian Harrier, the property’s general manager, and they were discussing their love of hunting, fishing, the outdoors, camping and wildlife.
“He saw some of my art on my website and he said, ‘You should do a bull elk for our entrance’ and I started drawing designs on a cocktail napkin and the idea grew from there,” LoFaro said. “On May 1, 2023, is when I actually started welding pieces. And I drew his body with chalk on my garage floor. I started with the eyes, my art teachers always said start the with eyes and go out from there and that’s how this project started.”
In contrast to the metal, the eyes are marble and LoFaro equipped the sculpture with LED lighting so the eyes glow.
“The eyes are my favorite part of any sculpture. I feel like we’re drawn to the subject matter through the eyes, we make eye contact with them and that captures the spirit of the elk and what it represents,” LoFaro said.
LoFaro said that he believes the elk represents the spirit of the Rocky Mountains.
“I wanted him to be ancient-looking, a little bit bigger, little larger-than-life because he’s representing the king of the forest. The word ‘wapiti’ means ‘elk’ and comes from the Shawnee and Cree Native American tribes, so I wanted to have that as part of the title of the piece, too.”
Stop by the Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa in Avon to see the new sculpture and stop into the Lobby Bar and chat with LoFaro about his creation, both the sculptural type and his creative cocktails and shrubs and you’ll see he is a true artist and a storyteller. To view more of LoFaro’s works, go to LoFaroMetalarts.com.
Editor’s Note: This story was corrected with accurate information regarding the artist’s upbringing.
