Artist Creating Sculpture to Benefit Art Show

A local artist is creating a lasting, interactive monument to the man whose vision built our community.
Sculptor Vic Payne is working on a bench that features a seated Buffalo Bill Cody – with a space for others to sit next to him. Payne’s wife Angie says that when it is complete, one of the limited edition bronzes will grace the corner opposite the Irma Hotel, as a gift to the City of Cody.

She says the idea for the benches came from Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale Director Kathy Thompson – and Angie says that they decided to donate the proceeds of the sale of ten of the limited edition bronzes to the art show to allow for the growth of the show.

Angie Payne says that this project is the beginning of a series of sculptures that will be entitled “Legends of the West.” She adds that one of the patrons of the Center of the West, Naoma Tate, requested a bench with a younger version of Bill Cody as a frontiersman, so Payne will be working on that, and will continue the series of benches with subjects such as Doc Holliday, Annie Oakley, Wild Bill Hickock, and even Amelia Earheart.
The sculpture in progress is currently in the hub of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, where the sculptor will be available this week to visit about his work.
—