ontrak_autumn_2017_new

Alison Brown
Sculpting Her Future
UO grad Alison Brown has quickly become a successful bronze sculptor.
AS A COLLEGE STUDENT at the University
of Oregon, Alison Brown searched for a career
that would be fulfilling. She knew she loved
art, but didn’t think she could make a living
sculpting. Then she discovered her calling
was all over campus—in the form of Puddles
the Duck, the university’s mascot. Today, the
28-year-old Troutdale resident has a successful
business sculpting mascots and other figures,
and is in the process of opening a foundry in
Troutdale. Her company, Campus Sculptures,
offers sculptures of the mascots of UO, Oregon
State University, Boise State University and
the University of Southern California. In 2016,
she unveiled a 7-foot bronze sculpture of the
Oregon Duck in front of Matthew Knight Arena
on the UO campus.
How did you come to sculpting?
I just assumed nobody was making a real living as an artist. As
a kid I was probably too practical and I thought about what
I could actually do to make a living. Even though I knew art
was what I loved, I thought, ‘I have to find something I love
as much as this that will pay the bills.’ But I never really did.
When I met my husband, Rip Caswell, who has a gallery, I
was really inspired not only by his work but because of his
business sense. The lightbulb went on—there are people out
in the world who are creating artwork for a living. I really
wanted to be a part of that. I was pretty terrified at first and
had to basically jump into it with my eyes closed. I started
learning how to create artwork and cast in bronze and learn
the business side of it, too. I just went full-fledged into it, from
a Spanish degree.
How did the mascot niche come along?
I was just finishing up that degree when I decided to