Issaquah sculpture likely done deal

Plans to commission a sculpture of legendary conservationist Harvey Manning — to be displayed in downtown Issaquah — will likely be finalized by the end of the month, officials for the Issaquah Alps Trails Club said Friday.

A husband-and-wife sculpture team from the Olympic Peninsula has been selected to create the life-size statue for $60,000, said club President Doug Simpson. The club's board is expected to approve a contract Jan. 24, he said.

About $48,000 — a combination of funds and pledges — has been raised so far, Simpson said. The city of Issaquah expects to put $8,000 toward the cost; a vote on whether to fund the project will go before the City Council on Feb. 4, according to city documents.

Manning, of Bellevue, was a passionate and vocal environmental advocate. He died Nov. 12, 2006, at age 81.

"More than any other single individual, he's responsible for green space and public access to land in the King County area," Simpson said. "There's been no one who's been more influential than he."

An icon of wilderness preservation, Manning co-authored dozens of books about hiking in the Northwest. Friends say the North Cascades National Park, the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area and Cougar Mountain Regional Park all owe their existence to him. He was also one of the original advocates of the Mountains to Sound Greenway, now a publicly owned 100-mile corridor of woods along Interstate 90.

The trails club and the Issaquah Arts Commission put out a call for artists last May. Sara Johani and her husband, Tom Jay, of Chimacum, Jefferson County, were selected from three finalists, Simpson said.

The couple sent in a rendering that "captured [Manning] so well," Simpson said. "It didn't take us very long to make up our minds."

The depiction of Manning shows him sitting atop several large rocks, which are interspersed with purple lupines.

"It is a symbolic mountain," Johani said.

To understand the man she would sculpt, Johani spoke with Manning's family, analyzed photographs and learned about his likes and dislikes.

Last year, when Manning's son was visiting from Canada, she drove out to Bellevue to study his facial features, she said. Manning had a beard, so it was difficult for her to understand his bone contours, she said, but luckily, father and son looked alike.

Such research is necessary to do a sculpture justice, she said.

"The face is such a beautiful landscape," she said. "It's like poetry ... with something like this, it's forever. You want to make it right."

The statue is expected to sit near the Trails Center at 110 S.E. Bush St. Its unveiling is scheduled for May 2009 — the 30th anniversary of the trails club, which Manning founded.

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com. Information from The Seattle Times' archive was used in this story.