By Kathleen BergerRecord Staff WriterIf you have walked around downtown St. Louis in the past decade chances are you have admired the work of Warren County sculptor Harry Weber.Weber’s bronze bull and bear sculpture called “Forces” is the latest point of interest in the city.Standing 12-feet tall and weighing 4 1/2 tons, Weber’s bull and bear are locked in deadly combat outside Stifel Financial at the corner of Washington and Broadway. The public art symbolizes the opposing forces of the financial markets.Weber says Stifel Financial approached him with the unique idea that’s become one of his proudest achievements.“Almost every representation of bulls and bears representing the markets has the bull winning for obvious reasons, the bullish market is the positive side,” said Weber.But Stifel wanted something different: equal forces signifying the balance of the markets. That was Weber’s challenge.“Trying to figure out how we would make it look like either one of them might win that fight,” he said. “We had to make it kind of vertical because the normal inclination of a bull is pretty horizontal. So we got them both up and fighting each other.”Weber says the bull and bear sculpture is now one of 50 bronze figures he created for public viewing at 31 sites in St. Louis. They include Cardinals players outside Busch Stadium — with the exception of Stan Musial. However, Weber created the bronze Stan the Man at Lester’s Restaurant in Ladue. More popular sculptures include Lewis and Clark on the St. Louis Riverfront, Chuck Berry in The Loop, and Jack Buck at Busch Stadium.While Weber has a huge presence in St. Louis, the 71-year old sculptor has been calling Warren County his home for the last nine years.“It’s more interesting countryside than a lot of other places that are close to St. Louis. It rolls, it has a lot of trees,” he said.Weber’s secluded property near Innsbrook is ideally situated to stimulate creativity. Weber and his wife raise jumper horses. The barn is located on one side of their home, his studio is on the other. Weber embraces the isolation.“It’s almost like a daily meditation,” he said. “Every morning I go out and either run or walk with the dogs through the woods and through the trails we have for the horses. Even though it’s the same property, every day it changes. Every day you see something different.”Over the years, the life of bronze turned into gold for Weber. In today’s market, he said the cost of bronze casting is $28 per pound.“The size of the bull and bear, you’re talking mid-to-high six figures because of all the work that has to be done, a half a million dollars or more.”Weber’s first bronze sculpture was in 1977, eventually leading to sculptures of athletes in the 1990s. The recognition he received resulted in numerous sculptures of famous sports figures.“The nature of bronze is that it’s a very fluid looking metal and you can get a lot of movement just off the surface and the way it reflects,” said Weber. “So I started doing athletics because athletes move. And that really jump started the career, changing it dramatically.”Weber named four sculptures as his all-time favorites. He ranked “Forces,” right up there with the other three. The short list includes Bob Gibson and Dizzy Dean, both part of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Statues outside Busch Stadium and NHL’s Bobby Orr in Boston.“You have your own vision of how something should look when it finishes. And those come closest to being exactly what I wanted to do,” he said. “It knocks my eyes out. I can’t really understand how I did it in the first place.”The October unveiling of “Forces” took a 12-person crew, including foundry workers and welders. The bull and bear had its roots in Warren County, but Weber moved the operation to a large warehouse in Wentzville in order to accommodate construction of the sculpture’s beastly proportions.These days Weber is back at work in his home studio creating a bronze award for the United States Hunter Jumper Association. It’s a statue of an individual who will be receiving an upcoming honor, yet to be announced. Being asked to create this piece is an honor for Weber, who shares his love of the sport.The stories of Weber’s life are not only about the sculptures he creates, they are about the people. His inspiration behind his creations involves Weber becoming intimate with the essence of the individual or subject he’s molding and casting in bronze.“Every piece has an interesting story; I mean every single piece.”

Kathleen Berger Photo.

WORK IN PROGRESS — Sculptor Harry Weber in his Warren County home studio working on an award for the Unites States Hunter Jumper Association.