The Eagle Bronze Story

I got my first real exposure to the art industry after I had married my beautiful wife Beverly. Her father Bud Boller was and is a known respected artist in Wyoming, known mostly for his bronze sculpture, but is amazing with a pencil as well. Before we begin the journey down the road to Eagle Bronze, let me first take you to the beginning, because without this beginning, I would not be in the art business after all!

I know this is many, many years back, but the story really starts before I even left high school for college. Through high school, I had always had my eyes on a younger girl that had lived just done the street from my parent’s home in Lander. A very cute little gal that I used to adore from a distance. Not in the “stalker” way, we hadn’t really heard of this term in those days. Truth be told, it seems she stalked me, in the form of binoculars from her house as I worked on chores in the yard!

 

"Lander is known nationally as “the City of Bronze” – Main St. features more bronze statues percapita than any other town its size in the country, thanks to the presence of Eagle Bronze Foundry and Gallery."

Wyoming and Lander Tourism/Development Department   

My “stalker” wife, moreover my high school sweetheart, and I did end up getting married and headed off to college at the University of Wyoming. I studied Mechanical Engineering and my wife studied art. We braved the cold winters of Laramie, and after I graduated, we moved to the Loveland area so I could work as an engineer for Eastman Kodak.

On a side note about my stint with Eastman Kodak. They of course hired me right out of college. Before we officially moved to Colorado to take on my role with Eastman Kodak, we were sent to Rochester, New York for training. Being from Wyoming, we were somewhat naïve and oblivious to some goings on around us. We apparently were living on the “wrong side” of the tracks the whole time we were there. We found out later when we returned to Colorado, that we were living in very close proximity to a famous mob hang out, the “Chatter Box”. Not believing we were in any danger and with the Lord on our side, I even played basketball with some of the neighborhood guys. Being a whitey with a indefensible hook, I earned the nickname “Cool Breeze”.

Now back to the story. After some time in Colorado, we moved to Colville, Washington so that I could work with my dad on his ranch and also took a full time engineering job at Alcoa. Needless to say, I was very busy keeping our ranch going, working as a full time engineer, and now trying to help raise a family of four daughters. Burning the candle at both ends, the Lord started to prompt my spirit, some times flat out hit me, and started to move me in a different direction. After my father passed away at an early age from cancer, it was only a matter of time, before I felt a different calling to my life.

To make long story short (too late), we decided to move back to our hometown of Lander, Wyoming so that we could start a small sculpture foundry to produce Beverly's father's bronzes and I to pastor a Vineyard Church. I guess the Lord had slightly other plans. We have taken our little foundry operation to one of the largest in the world. Having redesigned the way we build and engineer monuments, we have been told that we are the largest producer of monuments in the world, and can do them quicker than most, keeping the integrity that the artist had originally produced.

Beverly also started sculpting along the way and is a very gifted and talented artist. Her ability to create softness and life in everything she sculpts is truly a gift from the Lord. Her work has kept our vision of ministry going. I may not be the pastor I thought I was called to be, but I have been able to see the impact Bev’s art has had and been able to use this as a tool to minister to people along the way. God was calling me to ministry, just not how I had seen it!

Along the way, we added some additional help to our facility. In 1999, my oldest daughter Heather and her husband Matt decided to join our fight and help run our business. Heather studied accounting in college and is now our Controller. Matt, having studied Structural and Mechanical Engineering in college, is now our Vice President. With the addition of these two, we now have the ability to expand our operations and move in directions we never would have if they were not present.

We have rebranded Eagle Bronze to move in a direction that has made us more than just a fine art foundry. We have become an art marketing group that can take conception to completion, help our artists find and place projects, and much more. We have become a facility that can do more than just recreate and manufacture art. Above all, it has always been about the relationships we have made over the years. It is about our everlasting friendships we have built and hope to continue to build. We are more than just a business; we are your friends, your partners. We look forward to forging a future together with you!

 

"I would not trust this piece to anybody else. They (Eagle Bronze) have done an absolutely remarkable job. From this town (Lander) have been shipped some of the most famous monuments all over the country."

Kent Ulberg - Artist