(acoustic guitar music) - [Narrator] If you've lived almost anywhere in Oregon, there's a good chance you've seen some of Pete Helzer's work.

Pete's public sculptures range in style from these whimsical turtles at the Oregon Zoo, to this highly relatable moment depicting a dog and a girl in Tualatin, to this stirring tribute to civil rights icon, Rosa Parks, at the bus station in Eugene.

- The Rosa Parks piece, that was a real honor for me.

What's interesting is that the people of Eugene have sort of taken ownership of that piece.

She doesn't get vandalized so much.

She doesn't get tagged so much.

There's always somebody down there, kind of watching out for her.

- [Narrator] We first met the Dexter, Oregon artist in 2003.

He was working on the clay bust of late Oregon author, Ken Kesey, and getting some pointers from Ken's daughter, Sunshine.

- I also worked on the nose a little bit since, since we talked.

I tried to get that- - Yeah, and the only thing I could say is that it's, from the side it's still a bit.

It's become kind of pointy now.

And maybe it just needs just a bit more of a ball.

- [Pete] Here on top, this way?

- Just that.

- I might have flattened it a little bit.

- Right there.

So I can come in and help Pete out with things that, even him who's studying the photographs.

There are just things that you wouldn't notice, unless you'd lived with it for years and years.

- [Narrator] With Sunshine's help, Pete's sculpture of Ken Kesey reading to his grandchildren is an iconic part of Downtown Eugene.

But he won't have that kind of help on this project, a bronze statue of Louis Southworth.

- I think there are three photographs of Southworth that we know authentically is him.

So this is the one I decided to use there for the Southworth sculpture.

- [Narrator] When it's finished, Pete's sculpture will be the centerpiece of a park in Waldport, dedicated to this Oregon pioneer.

- So here we are on the future home of Louis Southworth Park in Waldport.

And when it's completed, I think it'll probably be one of only a handful of places that are honoring a specific black person in Oregon.

Louis Southworth was a Jack of all trades.

He was brought to Oregon as an enslaved person in 1853.

And he finds himself in this place where legally he has no rights, no opportunities.

And yet he creates opportunities for himself.

He was known for his fiddle playing.

And after going to Jacksonville, and working in the gold fields, and then going to Yreka, California for a time.

The story goes that when he was in California he played fiddle for a couple of dancing schools, for girls dancing schools.

And earnings from that were what he used to, along with the gold earnings, purchase his freedom.

And then he eventually came here to Waldport.

And so for 30 years he lived on a piece of land, which he claimed, and was able to successfully file the Homestead Act claim for.

- [Narrator] Louis established himself in the community, operating a ferry across the Alsea River.

- He was fairing goods for people to build their homes.

So, I mean, just on that level, he was responsible for the town being built, in a lot of ways.

- [Narrator] Jesse Dolin grew up in Waldport, right across the way from Louis's land.

- And what's amazing to me that I didn't learn, being a student here at Waldport, was that he donated land to build Waldport's first schoolhouse.

And he just persevered.

He was embraced by a white settler community during a very chaotic, and divided time in our state's history.

I mean, an incredible story.

And I just couldn't believe it hadn't been told.

- [Narrator] To Jesse, 12 acres of vacant property in Downtown Waldport was the perfect spot to build a park in honor of Louis Southworth.

- So I had this dream to do a life sized bronze sculpture.

And I had remembered seeing this incredible bronze piece in Eugene of Ken Kesey reading a book to kids.

So I did some research, and found the artist's name.

And I just emailed him.

- [Narrator] Jesse's email arrived just about the time Pete was thinking about retirement.

- Bronze keeps getting a little heavier every year.

I'm turning 76.

And then I got a call from Jesse Dolin.

And I was really blown away by the vision that Waldport had for this park.

We can estimate his size by the length of the bow.

They haven't changed much over the years.

- [Narrator] With only three photos to work from, Pete worked with models to sculpt Southworth's dimensions and appearance.

But getting from a clay sculpture to a bronze statue has a few steps.

First, the bust of Southwest's head was encased in a plaster mold, and filled with wax to form a wax positive.

Another heat resistant mold was then built around the wax bust.

- And then that's put into what we call a burnout kiln.

Wax is then melted out of that mold.

That's why they call it lost wax casting.

The wax gets lost.

- [Narrator] With the wax now lost, the empty mold is ready for bronze casting.

(tense music) - One, two, three.

Up.

(tense music continues) Good, good landing.

Don't go down very far.

And up.

Okay, nice and slow, like casting.

Here we go.

- There's a rush when the bronze comes out of the crucible.

It looks like orange juice.

It's like, that's a metal that's heavy.

And yet you watch it, and it's just so fluid and graceful.

That's a rush.

It's always been a rush.

It's been a rush for 50 years.

Here we go, right to the top.

- [Narrator] In about 15 minutes, it's time for the big reveal.

- Okay, we're gonna see what we got here.

(plaster cracking) (water steaming) And you have a bronze sculpture.

(contemplative music) - [Narrator] For something on the scale of the Southworth project, casting the parts is sort of the beginning.

Because the parts have to be assembled into a statue.

- You've got welding, and you've got grinding, and you've got Dremel tool work.

There are parts of it that are exciting.

Bronze pours are exciting.

But the foundry work is a lot of work.

(Dremel humming) This is probably the most complex piece I've ever done.

The reason is, he's playing a fiddle.

And twisting your arm around in that position, that was difficult, getting the hand to look natural.

I finished the hand, I looked at.

It looked fine from one angle.

I'd go to another angle, it looked like he had a broken wrist.

Cut it off, start over.

- [Narrator] Keep in mind, Pete's making all these adjustments in bronze.

- So it means cutting things off, putting them back together with the weld, and then grinding it down, and then texturing the surface so it matches everything else.

But also, if you're a quarter of an inch off at the elbow, you're gonna be two inches off at the fingers.

So I had to make some adjustments in the wrist and the elbow to get the bow to lay across the strings.

- [Narrator] With all the pieces assembled, and the seams smoothed out, the statue is ready for a patina.

(torch blowing hard) (torch continues to blow) - I tend to like to over patina, so I go darker.

And then I work back with wire brushes and buffing pads, till I get the exact color that I want.

So I try to highlight the areas that are raised, and leave the recessed areas a little darker.

And that gives them much more depth, and more sort of.

Well, I like to think of it as more lifelike features.

(banjo music) All right, let's try to lift it.

One, two, three, go.

You guys are doing great.

Set him up.

You gotta come over here.

Gotta come.

Right there, perfect here.

Louis Southworth.

(all cheering) - [Jesse] Hi everybody.

- [All] Hi, Jesse.

- Thank you all so much for being here.

Such an exciting day for the city of Waldport.

It's satisfying on so many different levels to see this project come together.

It's really overdue.

Knowing the story of Louis Southworth has really deepened my connection to this place.

- No doubt, Louis Southworth was a remarkable individual.

But his story is not an individual story.

It is the story of every 19th century black American who made a life for themselves in Oregon, in the face of legalized inequality.

And it is the story of those who fought against that inequality, because they recognized the goodness in those who were different from them.

Our ancestors knew that ordinary people could make a difference.

So to have a park honoring him shows people that, yes, black people have lived in Oregon.

Black people still live in Oregon.

Having name places is a way to honor our ancestors, and demonstrate what communities value.

- [Jesse] All right, you ready?

One, two, three.

(all cheering) (fiddle music) - Working on this project has just been a real uplifting experience from the very start.

He was clearly a fascinating character.

And the other thing I wonder about, often, is whether my ancestors knew him.

Because he lived about 18 miles from where my ancestors were farming.

So there's a good chance if they didn't know him personally, they would've known of him.

So I feel all kinds of fellowship with Louis Southworth.

(bluegrass music) I'm selective about who I memorialize.

They have to be significant to me in some way.

I also try to stay within the Pacific Northwest, within Oregon mostly.

So it's like developing, and participating in creation of the sense of place.

And I think that's where it becomes important to me, as a person.

(bluegrass music fades)