Artist Seeks Funding for Outdoor Sculpture

One area artist is on a quest to bring his sculpture to Chesterfield.

Wildwood resident Matt Donovan is raising money to fund the placement of his work "Harvest Hunter." The bronze sculpture is about 9 feet tall and depicts a barn owl in flight. 

"It's a different style than most of my other pieces," Donovan said. This sculpture is more stylized, he said, pointing to the three curves at the bottom that represent vegetation.

Donovan is raising money through Kickstarter, an online platform to crowd-source funds for creative projects. He's set a goal of raising $45,000 by Sept. 2.

Everyone who contributes to the project receives a reward. For $10, a donor gets a signed postcard of the sculpture once it's been installed. If someone donates $10,000 or more, their name will be put on the sculpture's base, and they'll receive a 20-inch bronze replica of the sculpture.

"You want the rewards to be something people are interested in," Donovan said.

With Kickstarter, if a project isn't fully funded, no money changes hands. Fundraising through Kickstarter is a new venture for Donovan, but he said he was hopeful it would work. Getting the project off the ground has been a bit harder than he thought. He started the campaign about two weeks ago. He's visited businesses to talk about the sculpture and left post cards behind, asking receptionists to hand them out. He's also left postcards at some homes. 

"There's a lot of uncertainty," he said. "People don't know what to do with it when they go to the website. They'll hover their cursor over the pledge button, but it's difficult to make that final click."

Donovan, who worked at for more than 20 years before teaching himself to sculpt, said he's hoping to secure partial funding from a local business or corporation, too. 

One bronze cast of "Harvest Hunter" will soon be placed in Oregon, IL, a small town west of Chicago. Donovan won The Fields Project sculpture competition there last year. The Fields Project aims to merge art and agriculture. The winning sculpture is cast in bronze at the nearby InBronze Foundry. Donovan said the cast is nearly complete and will be installed in Oregon, IL soon. 

If fundraising goes well, InBronze Foundry would begin the bronze cast for the Chesterfield sculpture soon.

Donovan said he'd like to see the piece placed along the paths near the lake behind Chesterfield Amphitheater. Ultimately, the placement isn't up to him, though. Donovan said the decision would be made by the city and . He sits on the Chesterfield Arts public art committee.

"For purposes of this, I'd step back and not be involved with any decisions," he said.

Until it gets to that stage, though, Donovan will be spreading the word about the project.

"For the rest of summer, I'll sculpt when I can and walk around and talk to people try to build support for this," he said.

To donate, check out the project's Kickstarter page.