Public to help trim statue of J.P. Patches

Guess who'll put the finishing touches on the J.P. Patches statue going up in Fremont this summer:

You.

That's right, Patches Pal. Artist Kevin Pettelle of Sultan, who is creating the bronze piece, is including the opportunity for a little "audience participation."

Remember the longtime TV clown's tattered jacket, festooned with a bunch of zany campaign-style buttons? On the statue, Pettelle will leave some of J.P.'s buttons blank, with small bronze hooks, to allow passers-by to hang buttons of their choosing.

"I imagine some will be controversial and might not stay up very long," Pettelle said with a grin. It is Fremont, after all.

Letting the public help trim the statue is in keeping with the way Fremont's most famous sculpture, Richard Beyer's "Waiting for the Interurban," gets decorated for various seasons and noteworthy occasions.

Pettelle's Patches piece, "Late for the Interurban," is intended to go about a half-block east of Beyer's sculpture along North 34th Street.

It depicts J.P. and his burly girlfriend, Gertrude, rushing in opposite directions, arms locked, coattails flying.

"There had to be some slapstick element, some vaudeville element, to be like the show," said Pettelle, 51, who grew up a Patches Pal in Bothell. "These guys really had their shtick down."

Pettelle, who started in the project in November, is now putting the finishing touches on a half-size clay model, which will be enlarged and carved into foam at a workshop in Oregon. Pettelle will then make a full-sized clay model on which the bronze casting will be based.

The J.P. Patches show, which ran on KIRO-TV from 1958 to 1981, is believed to have been the longest-running locally produced children's show in America.

In preparation to do the piece, Pettelle interviewed, photographed and measured actors Chris Wedes and Bob Newman, who played J.P. and Gertrude. He also read J.P.'s autobiography and watched old videos of the show.

In addition to the two characters, Pettelle is also making a bronze model of the ICU2-TV, on which the TV clown claimed to be able to look back at young viewers. Next to the TV, a bronze coffee can will collect donations to Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center.

Jack Broom: 206-464-2222 or jbroom@seattletimes.com