SPOKANE, Wash. — Local artists are trying to solve a mystery outside the Spokane area, where someone stole a leg from a bronze sculpture.
The sculpture in question hasn’t moved a muscle since 1995 when it was installed by artist Phillip Levine outside the Spokane area.
The bronze cast piece is called “Leap,” and now, a very important piece of it is missing.
“The leg that is missing was hooked onto the ground right here,” artist Karen Mobley said.
Mobley has worked with the public facilities district before. Now, she’s trying to help them find the amputated leg.
“If you just see the one leg, the springs don’t totally make sense,” Mobley said.
The piece went missing around Wednesday. That’s when Mobley got a call from the arena. She has her own theory.
“After a game, after a concert, people are horsing around and who knows if they really tried to steal it or if they were horsing around and accidentally broke it,” Mobley said.
Whatever the case may be, Mobley said she doesn’t care. She just wants the leg returned. Levine, the artist behind “Leap” died a few years ago. Replacing the leg would be difficult and expensive.
“It’s not going to have any value to you and it would be great if we could get it back and we didn’t spend community resources trying to repair the sculpture,” Mobley said.
The public facilities district reached out to local recyclers in case someone tries to scrap the piece. Mobley wants the Spokane community to keep an eye out for the recognizable piece of art.
“It’s one of the most popular pieces I think in the community’s art collection,” Mobley said. “It is both about athletes, which of course, many of us love the people who do the sports in the arena. It has a bit of a sense of humor.”
Mobley said she’s hopeful the leg will find its way back to the arena.
“I’m hopeful and optimistic,” Mobley said.
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