By Robert Airoldi
A statue of Loki the Great Horned Owl made by Evelyn Davis honors WERC founder Sue Howell outside the Centennial Recreation Center.
The bronze statue of a Great Horned Owl perched on a bronze manzanita branch was stolen sometime in the late night hours of Oct. 24 or early in the morning of Oct. 25, according to police. The thieves removed it off a 4-foot granite rock on which it was installed in 2019 along the paved trail near the Centennial Recreation Center.
“Losing the bronze owl is hurtful on many levels,” said artist Evelyn Davis. “It represented the legacy of Sue Howell and all the staff, board members and volunteers of WERC over the years. It was a marker for all the school students, teachers, and public who learned about local wildlife from the dedicated teachers who carried Loki and other ambassador animals to their meeting places, whether it was a festival, a private or public school, or other forum.”
The sculpture stands as a tribute to Howell, the Morgan Hill woman who has dedicated many years to protecting our local wildlife. According to Davis, it was secured with a steel rod that was drilled and epoxied into the top of the granite. The rod was also welded at the top end, inside of the bronze sculpture. The roots were completely epoxied where they conformed to the shape of the top of the rock.
“The thieves had to cut away the epoxy, and cut through the rod that was welded inside,” she said. “They could then lift the sculpture off the rock and carry it away. There are no lights or cameras at the art site.”
The sculpture is about 35” to 45″ tall and weighs between 40 and 50 pounds and is hollow inside.
“My signature, Evelyn Davis, is engraved by hand on one of the tree roots. Directly under my signature is the foundry seal: A rounded square with BW (over) SC which stands for Bronze Works Santa Cruz.”
The theft was reported to the police department by one of the city’s public services team members, who noticed the owl was missing from its base, according to Morgan Hill Police Capt. Mario Ramirez.
‘Unfortunately, at this time, we are not sure when the owl was taken, as no one recalls the last time they saw it in place,” he said. “There is no surveillance video covering the area, and we were unable to locate any other cameras. Based on the evidence at the scene, we believe the suspect used a saw to cut the steel rods holding the sculpture to the base. Our city team values the sculpture at $15,000.”
WERC founder Sue Howell, Teresa Stephenson and artist Evelyn Davis at the statue with Loki the owl located near the recreation center.
A law enforcement bulletin has been sent out to Bay Area law enforcement agencies and the case has been assigned to our detective bureau for further investigation, he added.
The sculpture was made directly out of art wax instead of clay, so there is no mold, Davis said. That means it was an absolute one-off. The City and the Wildlife Center will have lost the art forever if it is not recovered.
Howell founded WERC in 1990 after several years of volunteering at the Youth Science Institute in San Jose. For more than 25 years the center has been located on her property in Morgan Hill. She has devoted her life to the rehabilitation of native wildlife and the education of thousands of children.
In honor of all Howell’s contributions WERC Board Member Teresa Stephenson got approval in 2017 from the city council for the installation of Loki on the wildlife trail. Loki was there at the beginning of WERC and helped with its education and rehabilitation effort. He was the original logo for the center and died in 2018 at 20. Davis worked as a WERC volunteer and got to know Loki personally, which helped her bring the owl’s spirit into the piece.
The value of the project including the rock and installation was about $15,000, said Chris Ghione, city of Morgan Hill’s community services director.
Anyone with information can call MHPD at (408) 779-2101.
