Sultan artist chosen to craft Everett fishing tribute

Published 11:57 pm Sunday, May 17, 2009

EVERETT — It’s been nearly five years since Kay Zuanich and Barbara Piercey first set to work to create a tribute to a dwindling fishing industry that was once a major element of Everett’s economy.

Since that time, there have been a lot of meetings. Tons of them. And quite a few ideas, ranging from creating a tall spire along the waterfront that could serve as a monument and meeting place to installing plaques at various locations to explain the industry’s historic significance.

Piercey and Zuanich, both from fishing families entrenched in that history, wondered sometimes whether their efforts would bear fruit while there were still any fishing vessels left in Everett.

Now, with the selection of an artist to make a bronze statue to be placed on Everett’s waterfront, they’re in the home stretch.

“It’s wonderful to see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Zuanich said.

Selected for the task was artist Kevin Pettelle of Sultan, whose work is in a variety of public places in Snohomish County. Subjects made for Everett have included longtime dance instructor Mike Jordan and Seattle television personality J.P. Patches.

“It’s a very exciting project and I feel honored to be accepted by the committee,” Pettelle said. “It’s going to be exciting for me as an artist.”

Pettelle said he is in the preproduction stages of the work and hasn’t developed a plan for the fisherman’s tribute. An early idea in clay shows a fisherman hauling in a net. He said it will likely take a month to talk with everyone involved and to hone the idea. Providing a finished statue will likely take about a year, he added.

Piercey said she appreciates Pettelle’s interest in researching the old equipment and gear and working with fishermen to ensure the work’s accuracy.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” Piercey said.

Piercey said she’s trying to find someone who has some foul-weather gear used by fishermen 30 years or so ago. Called oil skins, the rain slickers were usually made of linen and then covered with an oil-based treatment.

“We want to have something for a model to wear,” she said.

The sculpture, to be paid for by private donations, will be placed near the 12th Street yacht basin near a planned new administration building for the Port of Everett. The new building will also include historical displays.

The statue will include benches so visitors can sit and look out over the water and the adjacent marina.

“People can sit and enjoy it and maybe have their lunch there,” Zuanich said.

Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459, benbow@heraldnet.com.