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Wallace family’s public art legacy begins new chapter in Gypsum

Pam Boyd
Special to the Daily
Kent Ullberg's “Canyon Watch” is a 6-foot-tall mountain lion statue in the middle of Gypsum's Valley Road roundabout.
Sean Naylor/Vail Daily

In 2021, a generational public art legacy began a new chapter when a bronze sculpture sprouted in the center of Gypsum’s Cooley Mesa Road/Valley Road roundabout.

Titled “Canyon Watch,” the 6-foot-tall piece depicts a mountain lion as it appraises its environment. And it will “watch over” the town for decades.

Renowned artist Kent Ullberg, whose work can be seen in museums and public spaces around the globe, created the piece. Ullberg is the artist who created the giant eagle that greets visitors on the road up to Beaver Creek.



There is a very personal story attached to this new piece of public art, a tale of family legacy for Brooks Wallace — set by his father’s example. It all began in an unlikely manner after Wallace underwent knee replacement surgery.

As part of his surgery recuperation, Wallace routinely trekked through the roundabout on his way to rehab. Every time he did, he found himself thinking the traffic circle looked a bit bare.

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“Roundabouts are a great place to display art,” Wallace said. “Ours down here in Gypsum just seemed empty.”

What started out as an idle thought soon became an actual idea and Wallace knew exactly where to go to find the artwork he envisioned.

As it happens, the Wallace family has had a long relationship with Ullberg’s work. Wallace’s father and aunt — Mahlon “Lonnie” Wallace and Audrey Wallace Otto — were the patrons behind a 10-piece sculpture exhibit that Ullberg envisioned for the Saint Louis Zoo and where the artist’s 19-foot-tall bronze bull elephant anchors the display.

“I love sculpture and bronze has been around since 3300 B.C.,” Wallace said. His passion was fueled as a student at the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills Michigan — a 319-acre campus that is home to dozens of bronze sculptures created by famed artist Carl Milles. Certainly, there’s no doubt that Wallace’s family legacy ingrained a passion for the art form.

So Wallace was on a mission. He immediately knew that he had to speak with Ullberg about creating the perfect piece for the circle. “I figured if anyone could help me fulfill this idea of mine, it would be Kent because he knows my family,” Wallace recalled.

“When Brooks called, I was delighted,” offered Ullberg. “His dad was a fantastic man. We spent a lot of time together, and he placed sculptures all over. Lonnie had a tremendous impact.”

Gypsum resident Brooks Wallace provided this rendering of Ullberg’s mountain lion sculpture in the proposal.
Special to the Daily

The artist invited the would-be donor to his studio in Loveland and a new generation of patronage was born.

When speaking of Ullberg’s work, Wallace described the realism and motion conveyed through his sculpture. While his talent has spanned his lifetime, Ullberg’s vision was partially formed by life experience.

A native of Sweden, Ullberg studied at the Swedish University College of Art in Stockholm. As he tells it, timing was not initially on his side when he launched his art career. At that time abstract pieces were in vogue, Ullberg explains, so he moved to Botswana, Africa, where he worked as a hunting guide and taxidermist prior to becoming the museum curator in Gaborone. It was there that he learned the anatomy of Africa’s wildlife. Then fate — in the form of some Colorado collectors — intervened.

When a group from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science came to Africa in search of artifacts for the facility’s collection, they connected with the local museum curator. Ullberg assisted with their efforts, and, in appreciation the group sent him a ticket to the exhibit opening. Ultimately, he was offered a job to help open the Denver museum’s Africa Hall.

Since then, Ullberg has compiled an impressive list of commissions and exhibitions. “I have lived my dream ever since. I am the most grateful immigrant you will ever meet,” Ullberg said. “Coming to America was fantastic for me, and I have been able to make a living doing sculpture.”

Ullberg’s work has also brought him a fair share of full-circle moments. One of his most recent installations is the life-size “Snow Mastodon” sculpture placed outside the Denver Museum of Nature and Science — the place that first brought him to America. While his Gypsum piece is smaller in scale, it also holds sentimental value for its creator.

“I was excited to talk to Brooks when he came to my studio. We started talking about setting a sculpture in his father’s honor,” Ullberg recalled. “We looked at a number of different possibilities and that piece spoke to him.”

As he shares his thoughts about the commemorative sculpture, Wallace stressed he was motivated by a spirit of humility, not pride.

“I don’t want this to look pretentious,” he said. “To me it’s more about sharing. And in this case it’s about sharing my love of the arts with the community.”

“It may seem frivolous to some people, but let’s look at what this bronze sculpture called ‘Canyon Watch’ symbolizes,” Wallace explained. “First of all, it’s part of our natural indigenous wildlife and as you travel further down Valley Road and up Gypsum Creek, you begin to enter natural mountain lion habitat.”

Wallace noted that cougars symbolize courage, power and adaptability. “That seems to describe a number of the people who live in our community,” he said. “This just seemed like the right animal to fill that void in the roundabout.”

Mountain lions are also known for their stealth, Wallace noted. “That fits too, because Gypsum is the best-kept secret in the valley.”

Last spring, Wallace approached the Gypsum Town Council members with his sculpture idea.

 “When I presented the idea and said what if someone were to donate it, of course their eyes lit up,” Wallace recalled.

While Wallace donated the sculpture, the town of Gypsum, with the assistance of Rocky Mountain Custom Landscapes, funded the installation.

According to Gypsum Town Manager Jeremy Rietmann, since its installation last fall, the piece has earned rave reviews. “We think it balances out the look and feel of the roundabout nicely and will be a great and enduring addition to the town,” Rietmann said.

For Wallace, it will be a great and enduring remembrance of both his dad and his favorite artist. It’s his gift to a community he loves, and Wallace hopes this piece of public art brings joy to the people who see it.

“I’m not trying to impress anyone or be a big deal,” Wallace concluded. “It’s not even about giving back. It’s just about giving.”


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