Husky Plaza dedication
In the summer of 2018, Chris Bennett heard of an upcoming project at St. Cloud State University and he knew he wanted to be part of it.
The university was in the early stages of planning the construction and installation of a new gathering space on campus, one that would help establish new traditions among Huskies everywhere.
Selected for the commission after a national search, Bennett found himself with the task of creating a large bronze statue of a Husky Dog that would serve as a centerpiece to the new Husky Plaza at St. Cloud State.
“I have done several mascots for different colleges and high schools, as well as other animals like birds over the years, so I was able to show them what I could create for the plaza,” Bennett said. “They ultimately had chosen me to do the sculpture of the Husky. “(St. Cloud State) has been very good to me, very good and very patient.”
Bennett, who is from Southeast Iowa, recently completed the stunning bronze statue prior to the dedication of Husky Plaza during Homecoming 2019 at St. Cloud State on Sept. 28.
The Husky stands approximately 72 inches tall from the base to the tips of the ears and is two-time life size while posing on top of a granite platform at the plaza. It is surrounded by a curved wall and is the center of a plaza filled with bricks inscribed by St. Cloud State alumni, students, parents, employees and friends who have left a permanent legacy on campus.
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“I came to St. Cloud State in August of last year to look at the site and talk about where it would go. I wanted to look at the space and I didn’t want the space to swallow the Husky,” he said. “I even proposed one and a half times life-sized, but I’m glad I didn’t because two-times life-sized is good and it probably could have even been bigger.”
Bennett has been creating sculptures and statues for various schools around the country for more than 40 years, including universities and colleges in Iowa and Kansas along with high schools around the Midwest.
“I went to school to various universities and colleges where I studied pottery and so on. My main teaching was when I served a three-year apprenticeship with a master sculptor. He was from Egypt and he emigrated here,” Bennett said. “I spent three years studying from him and spent time with him studying human anatomy and animal anatomy and we had all kind of things going on while he was still doing some of his monuments as well.”
The process of creating the sculpture took Bennett about a year to complete, with the installation of the bronze Husky in September symbolizing the final piece to completing the plaza.
From dealing with St. Cloud State to the process of completing the sculpture, Bennett is thrilled with how everything turned out and how the Husky is displayed proudly in a new gathering space on campus.
“It’s very nice. It will fit in that space very well and it’s very nice framing,” he said. “Everything is framed very nice. It’s centered very nice and it’s very well done.”
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