The statue of Tony Gwynn is nearing the completion of its sculpting phase and will be heading to be cast in bronze next week.

Seth Vandable, the Texas sculptor who designed and sculpted the statue of Gwynn, said he was in the final days of sculpting the statue and would be sending it to the foundry on Jan. 2. “The piece is coming along nicely,” he said. “I’m excited, it’s looking really good.”

The statue shows Gwynn raising his cap while holding his young daughter and was one of about 30 designed submitted from artists across the country. It was recommended for approval by a selection panel that included Gwynn family members, local art experts and Mayor Steve Vaus.

Casting the statue in bronze will take between three and four months, Vandable said. The final bronze statue will be 11 feet, 1-inch tall.

Artist Seth Vandable with the finished clay Tony Gwynn statue. (Courtesy photo )

The Poway City Council approved Vandable’s design in April and over $168,000 has been raised for the statue and the memorial it will stand in, which will be installed at Lake Poway at the baseball field. Vaus said that the city is aiming to have the installed on May 9, which is Gwynn’s birthday.

According to the city’s fundraising website, while the sculpture and Vandable’s fees have been covered, an additional $17,000 is needed to complete the plaza that will surround the statue. Donations can be made at crowdrise.com/tonygwynn or in person at Poway City Hall. The plaza will include a donor’s wall and seating.

Vandable said he began working on sculpting the final statue in late summer. His start was delayed while the city and members of the Gwynn family worked on coming to a consensus on the details of the statue. Getting Gwynn’s expression right took the longest, Vandable said. “A lot of (the delay) was getting the maquette (a small version of the statue used for preliminary design work before committing to the final statue) exactly as we wanted it,” he said.

Vandable has been a full-time sculptor since the early 1990s and has created several large pieces for public spaces like parks and memorials across the country. He said he also does smaller pieces for gallery showings, but large public pieces are what he mainly creates. He is the creator behind a 40-foot piece on display in Wyoming that is one of the largest bronze sculptures in the world, he said.

He said his inspiration for his winning design came from the city wanting something that showed Gwynn more as a family man than a famous baseball player. “The city was looking for something that reflected him as more than just swinging a bat,” Vandable said. “I wanted to show more of his personality.”

Vaus said what he liked best about the statue’s design was that it captured who Gwynn was beyond a famous baseball player. “It really captures the man, the dad, the neighbor,” said Vaus. “You can’t ask for more than that.”

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