Abbotsford sculptor behind new Neilson statue
Posted April 8, 2011 11:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The stunning, bronze tribute to Roger Neilson unveiled outside Rogers Arena Thursday was created by Abbotsford sculptor Norm Williams. The almost five metre, 363 kilogram statue took the 67-year-old almost 1200 hours to build.
Williams wanted to get all the details correct, right down to Jim Nill’s Canadien stick used to hoist that white towel back at the old Chicago Stadium in 1982. He borrowed it from a Delta collector to make the copy.
Most of the work was done in Abbotsford, the body molded in plaster. The plaster statue was then cast into bronze at a foundry in Langley. Williams says it took more than just old photos to make the Neilson statue a reality. “You have to remember the guy, and I remembered him real well. The nuances, the little expressions, I knew he used to sort of furrow his brow and chew his lip kind of nervously.”
At Thursday’s official unveiling, Williams met players from the 1982 team and had an old Canucks sweater autographed. “For a Canuck fan that would be a huge night. And then to combine it with the sculpture and the success that it had, and the warmth that it was received with, was just about overwhelming.”
Williams studied under West Coast artist Bill Reid, and got his schooling at Emily Carr and UBC. He has works in Steveston, Abbotsford and soon, Terra Nova Park in Richmond.
Roger Neilson passed away in 2003.
