Local sculpture placed at Albany County Courthouse

A traditional piece of art owned by a retired Saratoga couple is now sitting on the lawn of the Albany County Courthouse.

Bill and Carole Ward donated their large steel sculpture depicting four pronghorn, known as 'Movin' Out Pronghorns,' to the Albany County Courthouse lawn. A dedication ceremony for the placement took place Oct. 15.

The 7-foot-tall, 7-foot-long sculpture sat in the yard of the Ward's Saratoga home since 1987, but now rests easy on the south side of the county courthouse, near Laramie's Grand Avenue. The Wards are former Laramie residents and employees of Ivinson Memorial Hospital, where Bill worked as a radiologist and Carole worked as a nurse.

Bill said he became interested in donating his statue after reading that Laramie was in need of more downtown artwork.

"I saw in the paper that they were looking for art in downtown Laramie and I figured that we had the sculpture for a long time, so we became interested in donating it to them," he said. "People from the Albany County Road and Bridge Department picked it up a month ago and took it back on a flatbed trailer, and it was stored in the road and bridge department barn before it was placed. It was probably moved over with help of a forklift or skid steer."

Ward said there were around 40 people in attendance at the honoring ceremony, which took place before a commissioners meeting. Attendees included Albany County Commissioners and county officials.

"Tim Sullivan, one of the Albany County Commissioners, was the emcee and organized it, and it lasted about 20 minutes," Ward said.

Ward said also the sculpture was created in 1986 by Gary Temple, of Laurel, Mont., and is made of welded Corten steel, which does not rust as far as other types of steel.

"We bought it from Gary and it was delivered to our place here, but the courthouse owns it now," Ward said.

Before retiring 18 years ago, Ward said he had worked as a radiologist in Laramie, Torrington and surrounding areas. He has lived with his wife, Carole, in their Saratoga home since 1995.

 

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