Artist Laments Over Snatched Pelican Statue

The artist who spent six months full-time crafting a 700-pound flying pelican out of bronze expressed sadness over the statue’s theft from a Novato park and said he believes he knows the motive.

David Clemons, who was contracted by the to create Omay, a Coast Miwok word for pelican, was somber when reached at his studio in Idaho on Monday. He said the heist — sometime between Oct. 3 and 8 — from a perch on the south end of could be a crass symbol of the sagging economy. Clemons said he imagines the thieves would attempt to cut the pelican into pieces and melt it down for the copper.

Sgt. Eric Riddell of the Novato Police Department said copper is going for about $9 per pound, which figures to $6,300 for a 700-pound statue. A $1,000 reward has been set up for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thieves.

“Lots of people are going through hard times,” Clemons said. “Even if it was an act of desperation, we’re all struggling. But, geez, if you just need to steal some copper wire — which on the face of it is mostly what it is — then go steal it from a warehouse or a corporation yard. This is awful. It’s senseless, really.”

Clemons, who was paid $27,500 for his work, said he feels badly for the residents of Novato who grew to enjoy Omay and for the Native Americans for which it served as a link to their past.

“It’s tragic because they’re taking from everybody, not just the artist,” he said of the perpetrators. “They are just thinking about what (money) they can get for this stuff. They don’t know the amount of work or the amount of creativity that went into it. It’s like, gosh, they’ll just go get another one from an art store. It’s not like that. This was made by hand in a very long process.”

It took about 18 months from the start of the planning stages in 2007 to the installation of the nine-foot statue, Clemons said. Many people were involved — from city parks personnel to a citizen art review committee to a city engineer. The installation was covered by the local press and thereafter kids often were seen marveling at Omay.

Clemons said he has heard of artwork vandalism more and more. Omay was situated about 100 yards east of Redwood Boulevard and 100 yards west of Highway 101, leaving it in a hard-to-view position at night. He said having such statues be illuminated at all times would help prevent more vandalism.

“Even those that aren’t that valuable but might be more out of the way in a natural setting are prone to vandalism,” he said. “It helps to have a camera pointing on it, but in remote places that’s not really possible.”

Finding the pelican intact at this point is unlikely, he said. He could make a second one because he kept the molds.

Clemons had a message for the thieves:

“Theft is always wrong, but you haven’t just stolen from my artistic legacy. You haven’t just stolen something from the people of Novato or the Native Americans who live in that area. You have dishonored what it stood for. The whole purpose of that park is to be a flyway for birds, a sanctuary for wildlife. It’s a symbol of their freedom. Now that’s been taken away.

“Please rethink what you have done. No matter how desperate a situation you’re in, if you return it you are returning the honor to all the work that went into it — the community fundraising, the vision and dedication. This is about respecting people’s honor. This (statue) was a final touch to that park project up to that point. So there’s an awful lot of people whose work has been squelched by one person or a team of people who ruined it for everybody.”

Anyone with information about the statue's disappearance can contact the at 897-1122 or the department's tip line at 800-848-0101.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.