For Alison Brown, the phrase “going for gold” doesn’t carry much weight.
Since her graduation from the UO four years ago her life has centered on a different metal – bronze. Brown makes her living sculpting bronze statues of the Oregon Duck mascot, an item that appears to be in high demand among die-hard Ducks. Brown’s business, Campus Sculptures, is now booming. Many of her products are sold out before she can even cast them in bronze, a process that can take from six to 14 weeks.
Her repertoire includes bronze depictions of the Oregon Duck doing the stunts that have made him an icon in college athletics, such as riding the motorcycle into Autzen stadium and doing push-ups after a Ducks score.
Brown’s work has even waddled its way into the home of Nike co-founder and UO alumnus Phil Knight, the favorite “uncle” of all Duck fans.
“My work has allowed me to continue to be part of the UO community, even though I don’t live in Eugene or go to school there anymore,” Brown said.
But people here in Eugene will be able to catch Brown at work this fall, when she'll be setting up live sculpting demonstrations at the Inn of the 5th at the Fifth Street Public Market. The schedule is not yet final but Brown probably will appear on the morning of game days or possibly the Friday before.
Brown’s other works –small bronze statues inspired by Northwest wildlife – have been featured in galleries around Oregon and in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Sculpting was never Brown’s intended career path, she said in a recent Oregonian article, but she is overwhelmed that she has been able to be so successful at something she loves to do.
“I’ve loved clay and sculpting from the time I was little,” Brown said. “But I never really considered it as a serious job until about my junior year of college, and even then I was working towards a degree in Spanish.”
While Brown was going to school at the UO she sat on the board of directors for The Duck Store in a student leadership capacity, where she became captivated by the business side of the university and the folks she worked with. When she decided to start her own business after she graduated, Brown was confident that she had learned from the best.
“Starting my business during the recession was really hard,” she said. “They taught me that business is really about people and relationships. They showed me how to prioritize customers and form meaningful connections.”
For now Brown plans to continue crafting images of the Duck, but may eventually move on to other schools’ mascots.
“I see a lot of room for growth,” she said of her business. “But the UO will always be home.”
—By Nathaniel Brown, Public Affairs Communications intern