The smaller, 8-foot version of the whale at its home at the University of Alaska in Anchorage.

Anyone who drove by Parks Foundry along Golf Course Road in Enterprise last month probably noted a large whale — or rather, half a whale — soaking up sunshine on a stanchion. The 23-foot-tall bronze whale is the creation of renowned artist and sculptor R.T. “Skip” Wallen, who built the sculpture for the Juneau Whale Project in Alaska.

The bronze was intended to celebrate Alaska’s 50th year of statehood (2009), but unavoidable delays set back the $3 million project. Foundry owner Steve Parks has a 20-year working relationship and friendship with Wallen. Parks explained the reason for the delay: “We started talking about the project in 2007. As it’s financed by private donations, we’ve been proceeding as we can over the years.”

Nonetheless, the finished product is a marvel.

The bronze features the upper half of a breaching humpback whale arching backward and spiraling in a left roll. When in place, the immense bronze will appear to rise from a pool of water. An artist’s rendering on the Juneau Whale Project website shows water pumping through the sculpture to make the viewing experience as life-like as possible. The latter part proved a bit of a challenge for the foundry.

“It was pretty labor intensive,” Parks said. “A fountain specialist in Florida contracted all that stuff … it became a little less trouble because he gave us good direction in showing us what we needed to do.”

Putting the whale together from the top down increased difficulty. However, the foundry crew quickly learned to improvise around the piece, learning the logistics of moving the parts, which numbered more than 500, around in the confined space. The stop-and-go process with the whale’s funding also proved a challenge as the crew had to work to keep up their other projects at the same time.

“We do a lot of monumental stuff and we just had to work around it,” Parks said.

Wallen also spent a significant amount of time in Enterprise. He spent at least a month when the foundry was working on the clay portion of the project.

“During the enlargement process, they have a lot of hands helping them,” Parks said. “He spent a lot of time on that trip doing the eyes, the barnacles — all the stuff that’s important to reproduce.”

The foundry received the original piece, then called a maquette, when it was a mere 26 inches tall or so. That piece was enlarged to an 8-foot piece to see how the fine details grew in proportion. It now resides at the University of Alaska.

Artists with Wallen’s renown are what gave the foundry its reputation in the art world.

“Our reputation is built on what we do for the artist.” Parks said. “If they’re happy they pass that on. Skip’s been very supportive that way, as have most of our artists. We have a great crew. They’re seasoned professionals, and they make artists happy, and that what gets you work.”

The logistics of moving the piece to its Alaska home proved challenging as well. The bronze was not shipped in one piece, as even the flippers were 14 feet long. As it was, the foundry ordered a special trailer made just to haul the whale torso to Bellingham, Wash., and on to Seattle, where it was shipped to Alaska.

Wallen completed a zoology and wildlife management degree from the University of Wisconsin before relocating to Alaska to work for the state Fish and Wildlife Department. He’s lived there for more than 50 years now. He said the humpback whale was chosen because it is the most common southeastern Alaskan whale and representative of Alaskan marine life.

A happenstance interaction between Wallen’s wife and the foundry led the sculptor to his choice of Parks Bronze to realize his work.

“I went down there just to take a look, and I’ve been with them for quite a long time,” Wallen said. “It’s a happy place, and you feel good. There’s a terrific expertise of the people at Parks Bronze, and Steve (Parks) is a very competent person with a great sense of humor.”

The foundry now has completed nearly a dozen of Wallen’s pieces.

Several members of the foundry, including Parks, were in Juneau this week to complete the instillation of the whale at its new home on the downtown waterfront.