Within the next two years, Pentictonites will be able to name a 10,000-pound metal Tyrannosaurus rex sculpture among the city鈥檚 stand-out landmarks.
Renowned Chilliwack metal artist Kevin Stone recently announced he has been hired to build a 50 foot long, 35 foot tall T-rex sculpture that will be permanently on display in Penticton.
Stone got his start in the metal sculpting world in the early 2000s and has since gone on to construct some of the largest metal sculptures in the world. Stone has received international recognition for his work and has become a highly sought-after artist among a handful of the world鈥檚 wealthiest art collectors.
His sculptures regularly sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars to art enthusiasts with money to burn, including celebrities like Dolly Parton who has an eagle built by Stone at her theme park Dollywood.
His start in metal sculpting came when the brewery equipment manufacturing company he was working for in the early 2000s asked him to sculpt a metal gargoyle to put on display on the roof of their building. That gargoyle would be the first of many pieces in Stone鈥檚 repertoire.
Stone鈥檚 art has recently become so in-demand that he was able to sell his hot-rod shop in Chilliwack and focus full-time on his art. Penticton鈥檚 incoming T-Rex was one of the reasons he was able to make that career move.
鈥淥ne of the reasons I actually decided to leave the shop is the big T-rex project,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big commitment as a two-year project for me to build, with a pretty good budget so it wasn鈥檛 something that you really want to turn down.鈥�
So how did Penticton become selected as one of the few locations that will showcase a Kevin Stone sculpture? There鈥檚 a long story there including a network of uber-rich art collectors, Las Vegas, Dolly Parton, Miami, something called the Big Boys Toys luxury exhibition and a $60 million luxury car collection.
But the short version is that Penticton鈥檚 mystery T-rex buyer saw one of Stone鈥檚 falcon sculptures at a luxury car gallery in Miami and wanted a sculpture for himself.
The buyer, who wishes to keep his identity secret, reached out to Stone to ask him about building a giant T-rex. 鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted a T-rex,鈥� he told Stone.
鈥淏asically it鈥檚 going to be a giant chrome T-rex, full-scale, 50 feet long, 30 feet high, its legs are 12 feet tall鈥� I鈥檓 going to try my best to make it have all the details of a real dinosaur right down to the texture of the skin,鈥� Stone said.
The buyer intends for the sculpture to be on a hillside of his Penticton property overlooking the city where it should be visible from most vantage points in the city. He has also expressed interest in purchasing a public park and putting the T-rex there along with other dinosaur sculptures and donating the entire park to the city, Stone said.
Currently stone is wrapping up a dragon project modeled after the popular fantasy-drama series Game of Thrones. Although still incomplete the dragon has brought Stone more attention than any other piece he鈥檚 made to date.
He plans to begin construction on the T-rex soon at his home in Chilliwack and expects it to take almost two years to complete. Once complete, the dinosaur will be shipped from Chilliwack to its permanent home in Penticton where it should overlook the city for years to come.
You can follow Stone鈥檚 progress at @metal_sculptor_kevin_stone on Instagram and check out his other projects at .
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jesse.day@pentictonwesternnews.com
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