Yellow Bellied Art

They’ve annoyed farmers and have been hunted for centuries. Other people kind of like them. They’re yellow-bellied marmots, known locally as rockchucks, and they are on the rise in Redmond in more ways than you might imagine.

Colorfully painted, whimsical rockchuck sculptures designed by local artists are being sponsored by 20 businesses in the community for the public art “Fun-raiser,” Chucks in Public Places.

Linda Gilmore Hill, chairman of Redmond Committee for Art in Public Places (RCAPP), conceived the idea of this unusual fundraiser to benefit the organization’s public art mission four years ago.

“All over the country cities have been taking on different animals as an art project and auctioning them off. We’ve been batting this idea around of rockchuck art for quite a while,” Hill said.

The RCAPP wanted to make a mold of a rockchuck, but couldn’t find anyone to take on the job. A couple of artists in the community tried carving a rockchuck for the RCAPP to use for the mold, but the committee wanted a more whimsical-looking rockchuck.

But, when a local artist Betty Jo Simmons, a carousel-animal carver and a member of RCAPP, carved a rockchuck for the committee, it fit the bill.

Simmons had found a photo of a rockchuck taken in the Ansel Adams Wilderness in California and modeled her carving after the image.

Then Anne Graham, a Redmond city councilor and retired engineer, made molds using Simmons’ carving.

The RCAPP provided Graham with some of the materials to make the molds. She produced 20 rockchucks, each nearly two-feet-tall and each taking about eight hours to create. The art committee then sought out businesses that were eager to sponsor the fundraiser, each contributing $150 to secure a rockchuck mold.

The RCAPP committee put out a public art call for artists to paint the rockchucks.

“Each artist gave us a proposal of their previous work, and then we had them draw a rockchuck of how they would envision painting him using their artistic abilities,” explained Hill.

The committee chose artists based on their past and current art and their achievements, and paired each artist with one of the sponsoring businesses. Each artist kept their rockchuck for 30 days to transform him with their very own unique creative juices.

Once the original rockchucks were transformed by their artist, they were returned to the city to await their grand reveal, scheduled for June 15, at Wild Ride Brewery in Redmond from 4 to 6 p.m.

Hill, who is one of the selected artists, will be at Wild Ride with her rockchuck, which she designed after the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.”

“My rockchuck, Auric Charles Goldfinger, is sponsored by Red Martini Wine Bar [& Grill],” explained Hill. “James Bond movies are a theme they use on the walls of their business, and that’s where I came up with my idea.”

Just like Goldfinger, Hill’s rockchuck looks to be pure gold, wearing a red beret and sitting on top of shiny bars of gold.

Ace, the aviator rockchuck by artist Frank Graham, wears a classic bomber jacket and is sporting goggles sitting atop a World War II airplane. He is sponsored by the Redmond airport.

“The artist knew exactly what we were looking for when it came to an aviation theme,” said Zackary Bass, airport manager. “We are putting up an airport history wall inside the airport with pictures and explanations. A large portion of the wall will be pictures depicting World War II, when we were the Redmond air base.”

Ace will be hanging in the corner near the Alaska Airlines counter in pre-security.

Windermere Real Estate is sponsoring artist Jerry Werner’s rockchuck, Chuck Norris “Defender of the Brethren” aka Good Luck Chuck. Realistically wrapped in ammo, Chuck Norris is big, bad and ready to defend his rockchuck brothers.

Werner is a prolific artist from Tumalo whose work, created from a variety of media, is on display throughout the state. He created the 16-foot clock tower in Redmond’s Centennial Park.

Werner’s son-in-laws go rockchuck hunting in Eastern Oregon where farmers have an enormous population of the marmots. The rockchucks dig holes in the farmers’ fields, which cattle can inadvertently step into and break their legs. The danger they cause to the cattle puts rockchucks at the top of the priority list when it comes to pest control.

“So I thought, wouldn’t it be fun to design a rockchuck that could fight back,” said Werner. “He’s as politically incorrect as possible. He has all the ammo on him like hand grenades, guns and ninja knives. Oh, and he couldn’t be without a cigarette dangling out of his mouth.”

Mural artist Pixie Gullickson lives in Redmond and has always loved fishing the Deschutes. So the idea of a rockchuck fisherman came easily, but her creation also has a story that goes along with it.

Gullickson used to have a ranch with a big deck and it sat up on a hill. The only problem — rockchucks were everywhere.

“They were really bad for our pasture. So my son and his friend would have to shoot the chucks because they were destroying the land. Afterwards they would always go fishing,” said Gullickson. “It always made me feel so bad. So I made my rockchuck a happy little fisherman. I’d like to think Chuck fishes the Deschutes every day.”

Each of the 20 creatively painted and designed rockchucks and their artists will be at Wild Ride Brewery, June 15 from 4 to 6 p.m., where the public will be able to lay eyes on these spectacular, larger-than-life rockchucks for the very first time. After the event, the rockchucks will be on display for two months at the establishments around town that are sponsoring them, before being auctioned off at an event in August. Monies raised from the auction will be divided with 40 percent going to the sponsoring business, 40 percent to the artist, and the remaining 20 percent to RCAPP.

The Chucks in Public Places art project gives each artist needed visibility, raises people’s awareness of art, helps the local economy and serves as a focal points for civic pride, while adding a note of whimsy into city life.