Volunteer group seeks $60,000 to finish bronze mother-and-cubs sculpture at Kenai airport

Mary Bonrond, the airport’s former manager, told the Kenai City Council on June 18 that a community coalition has raised most of the money for a bronze sculpture of a mother bear and two cubs planned for the Kenai Municipal Airport but still needs roughly $60,000 to complete the project and meet a fall 2025 installation timeline.

The sculpture, Bonrond said, is intended to welcome visitors and “reflect respect for nature and celebrate our community’s culture and connection to wildlife.” She described the planned installation as a mother bear with two cubs placed in a naturalistic stream bed surrounded by native plants and driftwood, designed to feel like an encounter in the wild.

Why it matters: the project is being pitched as public art that also reinforces the airport’s role as a gateway to the Kenai Peninsula and as a collaborative effort between local businesses, nonprofit groups and the city. Project leaders said the installation will be accompanied by a donor recognition display in the airport terminal.

Bonrond said supporters who have contributed include Grand Aviation, 3 Bears Alaska, Rick and Bobby Baldwin, Marathon, Alaska Airlines Services, HDL Engineering, Linden Transportation (in-kind shipping), and Alaska Channel (advertising). The bronze artist, Stan Watts, supplied a miniature casting for final approval; Bonrond said the small model is on display at the Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center for public review.

Project volunteers said they are “over the halfway mark” on fundraising and that they hope to complete fundraising and finalize the artists’ contract by July 1 so the full-scale sculpture can be cast and installed this fall. Donation options are tiered: organizers told the council that a $100 donation will place a donor’s name on a “rainbow trout” recognition tile, $500 on a “sockeye salmon,” $1,500 on a “coho,” and $2,500 on a “Chinook”; corporate sponsorships are available at higher levels. Organizers said donations of $100 and above will be acknowledged on the terminal donor board and are tax-deductible.

Council members asked how donors can contribute; Bonrond said donations can be made through the project website or the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and confirmed a QR code on the project brochure links to donation pages. Vice Mayor Knackstedt noted the brochure and QR code and asked whether donations could be made directly from that link; Bonrond said yes.

Bonrond also read a Dena’ina blessing proposed to accompany the sculpture: “Grandfather Gaga, we are entering your forest. We won't stay long, and we won't take much. We ask that you grant us safe passage while we are here.” She said the message was reviewed and approved by representatives of the Kenaitze community and that the project leaders worked with biologists at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge to confirm bear posture and details in the model.

Organizers asked the council to share information about the project with potential donors and noted that the miniature model is available for public inspection at the Kenai Visitor and Cultural Center. Bonrond said the two cubs’ contract has been signed and the final funding for the mother bear contract is the remaining item to meet the production timeline.

Organizers did not request city funding during the June 18 presentation. Council members thanked the volunteers for their work.

Ending: Project leaders said they would continue fundraising through the summer and will report back to the community if the remaining funds are secured and the artist’s contract is finalized.