Gareth Curtiss, Bronze Artist
By Mike Cuffe
Gareth Curtiss blends the unique skills of a master hot metal craftsman with the God given gifts of a natural artist to memorialize great personalities of our history.
Two of his powerful and graceful pieces of art attract the attention of visitors to Montana’s beautiful Capitol building at Helena. Whether browsing as tourists or presenting important information to a legislative committee or transacting business in the office of the Secretary of State or talking business with the Governor, few people pass by these large bronze figures without pausing to admire their strong and graceful lines.
Mike Mansfield, a onetime Butte miner who was a colleague of President John F. Kennedy and who became Senate Majority Leader, when Lynden B. Johnson moved to vice president and president after the assassination of JFK, is preserved with his pipe and lovely wife Maureen on the third floor above the Rotunda. Curtiss recalls that Mansfield cared little about his own depiction, but the powerful Democrat who finished his career as ambassador to Japan, emphasized the artist must bring out the beauty of his wife Maureen.
The son of a powerful Republican leader Aubyn Ann Curtiss, Gareth knew he had to face that potential conflict when he entered competition for the Mansfield contract. He appeared early for the interview and spoke individually with a key member of Mansfield’s staff who led the selection committee. First question was why the son of a prominent Republican conservative figure should memorialize the great Mansfield.
“I was prepared for the question,” Curtiss comments. “I looked him in the eye and asked if the selection would be made based on my mother’s political party or on my own artistic talents.” Obviously, it was the right answer, and a reflection of the character nurtured into him by his parents.
Gareth’s mother served a lengthy tenure in the Montana House of Representatives and the Montana Senate, and Gareth Curtiss literally grew up in that world. He developed a fondness for Judy Martz, the Treasure State’s first woman to become governor. The decision to select him as the artist to create her bronze was an easy one for the committee. That bronze stands near the door to the president’s office.
Working in a very common appearing and weatherworn metal building, once a shop for a logger, in the rural community of Fortine, Curtiss creates his sculptures a short distance from the country school he attended and a few miles from the family farm. He enjoys showing his working studio, foundry, and the various stages of creations from sports figures to political figures. The multiple steps from concept to wax to bronze is amazing. Working with metal heated to extreme temperatures is common for the artist, and I watched him pour a bust of Judy Martz. Remarkable!
Soon after high school, Gareth Curtiss and his father Dave spent some time in Alaska, and his fascination with bronze displays began. “Just start doing it and work hard at it” was the advice of an older acquaintance. That is what he did. Quiet spoken, and a chip off his family’s conservative block; Curtiss loves to show various stages of his creations.
But perhaps his greatest creation is the deep feeling that emanates from the personages he brings to life. Often, I have paused to observe as those browsing the Capitol stand in deep reflection of his work, and I enjoy describing the lives they represent.
I met Mike and Maureen Mansfield while working in Washington, DC, as press secretary to Montana Republican Congressman Richard Shoup in 1973-74. I walked across the top of Libby Dam taking news photos of the majority leader and President Gerald Ford at Libby Dam Dedication in August, 1975. I was honored to know Judy Martz before, during and after her tenure as governor. A product of Butte, she was truly a gem, a class act, and a fun friend. I now hold the same senate seat once held by Aubyn Ann Curtiss.
I believe visitors to Montana’s beautiful Capitol gain the feeling they know these two great leaders, thanks to the unique brand of art and craftsmanship of Gareth Curtiss. He brings these personalities to life with deep warmth you must see to appreciate. What a gift he shares with the world. MSN
