John and Janet McGary spent years admiring art that Dave McGary had created. They were recently able to bring home a bronze sculpture that his brother had done as their own.
John’s brother, Dave, was an accomplished sculptor and interpreter of Native American culture.
Dave was eight years younger than John. The brothers, with two sisters, grew up near Cody, Wyo. John and Janet have lived near Plymouth and taught at Tri County Schools for many years. They retired ten years ago from their work at the school.
“Dave was a big guy,” John said. “Probably about 6’6” and never involved with sports. He was a lot different than me. He had talent, but never cared for stuff like that.”
He died in 2013 of a cancer in the kidneys.
Dave worked with Harry Jackson was a local metalworker and jewelry maker when he was young. When he was a sophomore in high school, Dave had the opportunity to study bronze making in Italy for two years. He learned casting techniques and in the 1990’s Dave opened his own studio and bronze gallery in New Mexico.
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John talked about Dave not liking school, but because of his art he learned physics and several other subjects. He talked about Dave’s work in the early years.
“He was particular and paid attention to detail,” John said. “He would create a piece and do a limited run of twelve or so sculptures and the break the mold.”
Dave’s art and jewelry pieces was sometimes extremely minute, with some jewelry pieces consisting of hundreds of welded together parts. Some of his sculptures are extremely large in size, such as “Touch the Clouds”, which features a Native American Chief with his arms outstretched that measures 15 feet across. Some were life size horses.
Most of the pieces had Native American influence. He became friends and had a whole series of Daniel Long Soldier.
“Dave is known for his historical accuracy,” he said. “A lot of the pieces have very distinctive details, and he was one of the only artists that painted on bronze.”
The three Chief Washakie monuments, sculptures that meant so much to Dave, can be found in the Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol, the Wyoming State Capitol and the Joint Shoshone and Arapaho Complex in Fort Washakie.
John said their mom, Ruth, had been instrumental in Dave’s notoriety.
“She had a good sense of business, and she was his mother. That’s all he needed.”
“We could never afford Dave’s sculptures,” he said. “We have fun stories of going into the art galleries where his pieces were. We’ve had to prove our identity several times.”
John said Dave was able to meet President Bush and attended Native American ceremonies because of his art.
According to an auction site, some of the pieces were sold for tens of thousands of dollars.
“Mom had several of his pieces and after she passed, they stayed with John’s stepfather, Al. He passed away about a year ago and we received one of the bronze sculptures.”
John and Janet have “When Lightning Strikes.” It was created in 1991 as a part of the Warrior Series.
Janet said Dave was a gentle man.
“You can see his life in his work. I think that is true of a lot of artists. It progresses and changes,” she said. “He was quiet and sit back and watch things.”
