Every log of wood has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it

Last weekend I was pleased to discover that my bicycle's tires could still hold air as I inflated them for the first time in many a moon. While I'd taken a ride last summer, I believe, it had been a while since I rode with any sort of frequency and I was looking to get back into the swing of things. My first venture on two wheels of 2026 would be to the Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival over at San Damiano in Monona. I'd attended back in 2024 and now realize that I never wrote about my visit.

Harry Whitehorse was born up in Black River Falls in 1927. He served in the Navy during World War II and settled in the Madison area afterwards. He ran an auto body shop in Monona and pursued his passion for creating art, including wood sculpture.

The festival involves artists from around the globe each being given a ginormous log and transforming it into a sculpture over the course of several days on the shores of Lake Monona. This year they came from such faraway places as Poland, Puerto Rico, Germany, Argentina, Green Bay, and Madison. The theme for 2026 is dancing and I am keen to see what these artists come up with.

Here are some scenes from the opening day of sculpting. Chainsaws were the order of the day as the artists were doing the rough shaping of the logs. The finer, more detailed work would come later.

The sculptors had eye protection but we observers didn't. More than once a breeze off the lake blew the sawdust into my face.

I was surprised to see a face emerging already on this log.

It was a lovely day out with plenty of sun and not too hot. There were craft vendors and food trucks.

As I did back in 2024, I bought some cards by Christopher Sweet, a Ho-Chunk artist from Baraboo.

Here the artist from Germany contemplates how best to discover and uncover the statue in the log.

I was told that this was this fellow's first time sculpting from wood of this size. Until now he'd done only small-scale stuff. Oh, he's from Green Bay.

Some of the sculptures from the 2024 festival were put on display at Olbrich Gardens, Garver Feed Mill, and perhaps elsewhere. I'm not sure if these are permanent displays or not. One of the pieces from a couple years back was on display Saturday at the park.

And here's one that I spied at Garver back in the spring.

I hope that they get put on display around town and become fixtures like Sid Boyum's works are.

After grabbing a bite to eat, I head over to Working Draft Beer to sample their rauch hefeweizen. I also had a small pour (I was biking) of their English summer ale.

It was very tasty and reminded me of the Wainwright Gold I had in the UK last year. And here is that lovely beer which I had with my Sunday roast at The Old Crown in Birmingham. It's an inn that supposedly dates back to 1368 and I had two wonderful meals there in the warm, medievalish atmosphere.

The folks at Working Draft did a really nice job in capturing that light, doughy malt taste that predominated in the beers I had over there. Not a 100% exact match but really gosh darn close. Thank you Clint and company.

Having been refreshed by the power of delicious beer, I met a friend at the garden plot that she co-works with a friend of hers.

Swiss chard, basil, tomatoes, and more. I went home with a bundles of fresh dill. Mmm...

I hope to make a return trip to San Damiano this weekend to see the sculptures in their final form.