BY KAREN BOSSICK
Hailey is about to get a permanent flock of sheep.
Eleven life-sized bronze sculptures featuring eight sheep, a sheepherder, horse and dog will be installed on the landscape strip between Highway 75 and Roberta McKercher Park.
“We have wished to bring something to the community like this for many years,” said John Peavey, who co-founded the Trailing of the Sheep Festival with his wife Diane.
The sculpture, which will celebrate 150-plus years of the sheep industry in the Wood River Valley, is created by Twin Falls sculptor Danny D. Edwards of Danny Edwards Bronzes. The tribute was made possible in part due to a generous gift from the Estate of Patricia Lane.
“While most of her gift to us is being used as an endowment (for Trailing of the Sheep) and to create and maintain our Archives in partnership with the Community Library, a portion of it will help with this project,” said Peavey. “We will be reaching out to the community at large for additional support and contributions.
The Hailey Arts & Historic Preservation Commission recommended the project to the Hailey City Council, which approved it this past week. It is hoped the monument can be unveiled during the Festival’s 25th anniversary Oct. 6-10, 2021.
Danny Edwards has created work for collectors all over the world during the past 29 years. His sculptures of bison, Native Americans, elk and other images of America’s West can be found in the halls of presidents, including the late President Ronald Reagan and in corporations, banks, universities and private collections.
He particularly loves creating sculptures with a story behind them, such as the one he did of a Silver City stagecoach and the six horses that ran between Winnemucca, Nev., and Silver City, Id., in the 1870s.