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After 20 years, I-90 horses sculpture unfinished

The Seattle Times
August 4, 2008

The lead horse from David Govedare's wild horse monument sculpture forms a silhouette against the evening sky over the Columbia river above Vantage, Wash. (File/The Spokesman-Review)

VANTAGE, Wash. — Running along the ridge, the horses’ manes whip in the wind. Their muscular bodies are silhouetted against the blue sky.

But these horses never move. They remain on the ridge, captured in mid-stride, part of a monumental public-art project near Vantage on a hill overlooking Interstate 90.

It has been nearly 20 years since the first 1,200-pound, steel horse was bolted into place, and the project, “Grandfather Cuts Loose the Ponies,” is only half finished. State officials have had trouble finding the money to complete it.

The 15 galloping horses are supposed to be running out of a 25,000-pound, 36-foot-diameter steel basket.

The artist, David Govedare, of Chewelah, Wash., sees the ponies as a gift from “Grandfather Spirit.” The horses have been contained in a “Great Basket,” but then Grandfather Spirit tipped the basket, cutting them loose to spread the gift of life.

The installation is also located in the area where the last grand roundup of wild horses happened in 1906, and is an homage to them, according to the 57-year-old artist.

The first horse was erected in August 1989.

State Sen. Chris Marr, a Spokane Democrat, would like to see the state pay to finish the project, estimated to cost $350,000.

A formal funding request from a nonprofit group would help, he said.

“Artists are not the best business people in terms of submitting funding requests,” he said.

John Roskelley, a former Spokane County commissioner and a member of the Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board, has for years tried to find money for the project.

One state senator opposed to the funding told Roskelley that the basket looked like a satellite dish, he said.

Since the horses were installed, some 100 million vehicles have driven past, based on state Department of Transportation figures.

Some have stopped and made the short, steep climb to the ridge to examine the horses, including Christopher and Margaret Stehr, of Centralia, Wash., and their four children.

“It’s amazing as it is,” Margaret Stehr said.

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