You Are Here : Home / City Information/ Departments / Parks and Recreation / Parks & Facilities / Public Art / Mountain Monarch

Mountain Monarch

About the Sculpture

Unveiled October 4th, 2001, this larger than life-sized elk statue greets visitors of Pioneers Park at the north entrance of off W. Van Dorn Street. Mountain Monarch is another name for an elk generally, though it specifically refers to elk with eight tines on its antlers.

This sculpture was made possible with a donation from Leonard and Angeleen Stransky. When the park was originally designed in the 1920s, there was talk of having two greeters to the park, the buffalo and the elk. However, the American bison statue would stand alone for many years until the elk joined it in 2001. This sculpture is a fitting addition to a park that is dedicated to the pioneers who bravely traversed and settled the west, as elk once roamed the plains and can still be found in some parts of the state.

There is also a maquette of this sculpture in the City-County building.

a bronze elk statue at Pioneers Park

Mountain Monarch, an elk statue near sunset

Rotating around the sculpture of an elk, showing all sides and angles

About the Artist

Born and raised in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Rich Haines has a genuine appreciation and fondness for Western and wildlife art. Each piece of art that he creates is intended to be a true representation of the subject's character rather than a stylized or symbolic image. Rich believes an artist can only successfully create that of which they have knowledge and this is the reason why he receives great satisfaction from his subject matter.

Currently, Rich specializes in life-size to monumental sculpture and has cast over 35 pieces of this magnitude to date.

http://www.richhainesgalleries.com/rich-haines.html

Additional Information

Length: 13 ft.

Width: 5 ft.

Height: 14.5 ft.