From Bull Rider to Renowned Sculptor, Casper Artist Shares his Story

This article is part of a series highlighting local talent in Natrona County.

Chris Navarro knows a thing or two about frigid Wyoming winters.

One of his tabletop bronzes shows a cowboy pushing cattle, titled "Snowing and Blowing at 10 Below".

But this winter, he's enviably in Arizona, where he has a gallery in Sedona.

If you've lived in Casper for any length of time, you've seen one of his giant bronze sculptures around town.

I wanted to know how it all got started, so I set up a phone call.

Navarro told me he moved from Texas to Wyoming for bull riding.

At first, he didn't know anybody. He lived in Bailey Hall at the Casper College for two years.

He married a Casper girl, worked in the oil field.

When he was 23 he saw a bronze by Harry Jackson.

"It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen," said Navarro.

Next thing you know, he went to Goedicke's Art store on 2nd street and bought supplies, then drove to the Natrona County library and asked for every book they had on making bronzes.

He was his own teacher, and made his first tabletop piece, Spinnin' and Winnin' in 1980.

"It took a lot longer than I expected," he shared. "Cost me a month's wages."

Navarro remembers the exact day he quit his job in the oil field to work on his passion full time--March 13, 1986.

He recalled, "My son JC was 10 months old and my wife Lynne was pregnant with our daughter Natalie."

His first show was at the Nicolaysen Art Museum that same year, the oil field had just crashed--another artist warned him it was a terrible time to be an artist.

But he was already hooked.

In 1993 he raised the money to create the Lane Frost Monument that's now at the entrance to the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum.

He's made over a dozen bronzes in Casper, including the T-Rex at the college and the Spirit of the Thunderbird, the Mustang at NC, and the statue of Jesus at St. Anthony's School.

This summer he plans to put up a sculpture of a little girl at the entrance of the fairgrounds to honor the 4H program.

Navarro said he's been doing what he loves for 37 years now. And while he's known for his giant bronzes, he's got a completely new vision for his next project.

"It's really got ahold of me."

Navarro said he was reading the news one day when he learned about the big wind turbines being put into Casper landfills and he thought, What a waste of material.

These new projects are unlike anything he's ever done before--abstract and colossal: Wind Henge and Wind Cathedral.

READ ALSO: Casper Council Moves Forward with Wind Henge

We end our chat talking about Michelangelo. "The greatest that ever lived," said Navarro.

"Why do you think he lived twice past the average lifespan for someone in his time?"

Maybe it's part of that 'doing what you love' thing we'd talked about earlier.