Artist proposes larger-than-life memorial

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Carson City wood carver Matthew Welter got to thinking: What about a memorial that celebrates freedom and the indomitable human spirit?

"I want to dedicate the next few years of my life to creating a sculpture about the spirit of freedom that will transcend our time," he said, explaining a concept he plans to follow to fruition. "I'm a guy that has pretty strong passions. I haven't had passion like the passion I feel for this memorial."

From that passion, came a vision.

The sculpture will be carved from a single tree -- a redwood for its resistance to decay -- and will feature as its centerpiece a human figure, with angelic qualities, including wings.

It will rise approximately 30 feet and measure 12-14 feet in width. Under the wings, Welter will incorporate scenes and imagery that encapsulate the theme of the sculpture, which shares its name: "Advance of Freedom."

The monument would be a monumental undertaking, Welter concedes, but out of trying times like the ones that have followed September's terrorist attacks, have come some of America's greatest triumphs.

"Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty -- those are 'larger-than-life' monuments," he said. "To me the whole role of the artists, especially in troubled times, is to stir the human spirit."

Welter is headmaster of Timeless Sculptures, a working studio and apprentice guild located at the corner of highways 395 and 50 at the south end of town. Within its walls and in the fenced yard, a staff of 10-15 apprentices and a handful of journeyman, share the space and split their time between learning the craft and selling their work.

As an artist and a teacher, Welter made his mark first in small town California producing sculptures by order and selling what he could. For 11 years he operated Timeless Sculptures in Kings Beach, and his influence lakeside can be seen around every corner. Welter's sculptures occupy yards and homes, blending with their wooded surroundings.

Development, the noise of his chain saws and the Lake's impossible real estate prices drove him to move to Carson City last year. And a good year it has been.

Welter says he is at a point in his career where he can start working for himself, deciding on his own subject matter, rather than that of his customers. And as a developed artist, with more than 30 years of carving under his belt, he is in his prime.

"This could be a project that takes four or five years," he said. "They have talked about a monument at Ground Zero. In a perfect world, that would be a good place for it."

But for now, Welter said the work will take place in the yard of Timeless Sculptures, when he is able to secure the funding. The artists who come to teach and learn at the guild will be the manpower behind the project, making it a team effort under his direction.

The Brewery Arts Center, which sponsors the artist's guild by providing low-cost housing for some of its students and journeymen, has set up a fund for Welter's project. Contributions are fully tax deductible.

He said he would likely need $40,000 to design the maquette, the scaled-down version of the wood sculpture, constructed from wax and cast in bronze. Contributors to the effort would receive one of the castings.

While Welter has ideas about the sculpture's design, he said it is not the definitive final product until he "locks himself in a room for three or four months" to work, he said. "It's going to come to me when I sit down to do the maquette.

"I figure once I have the maquette, people will have assurance that I am capable of doing the project."

Then comes one of the most difficult tasks -- raising the additional thousands it will take to get a piece of wood of that magnitude. The going rate for that size log is $50,000 to $75,000, he said.

"I don't want freedom to be just a passing phase of humanity," Welter said. "The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance."