A contributing artist to the Castlegar Sculpturewalk has passed away.
Delmar Pettigrew, who created “Well Mannered” on this year’s Sculpturewalk and “Red Raider” on last year’s, passed away on Tuesday, July 4 after battling cancer and kidney problems.
“He had cancer and kidney failure, and was undergoing dialysis, which weakened him greatly. We both knew that his time was limited, but there is no way to really prepare for this,” his wife Martha, also a Sculpturewalk artist, shared on Facebook.
“Del was always happy to lend a hand or give advice to any who asked. He loved his family, his friends, his work and, of course, his dogs and horses,” she added.
Pettigrew’s love of animals shows in his work. “Well Mannered” is a sculpture of a foal and “Red Raider” is the fox that now resides at Lakeside Park, after being purchased and donated to the City of Nelson by Dr. Ken Muth.
Joy Barrett, executive director of Castlegar Sculpturewalk, says Pettigrew will be missed.
“I never met Del in person, but I spoke with him several times. He was thrilled that his bronze fox, ‘Red Raider,’ would be coming up to Canada from our partner network in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and he was even more thrilled when it sold and now makes its permanent home at Lakeside Park in Nelson,” she said in an email.
“Del and his wife Martha (also in our program) are huge horse lovers, and when we learned that we could bring his bronze foal ‘Well Mannered’ up for this year’s program Castlegar Sculpturewalk we couldn’t wait to see it in person. Sculpturewalk has been honoured to have such an incredibly talented artist in our program. He will be sorely missed.”
Pettigrew, a resident of Nebraska, had studied with numerous wildlife sculptors, including Walter Matia and Floyd Tennyson Dewitt, and was also a talented painter. His work is represented by galleries in Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Michigan.
