FOLLOWING the passing of Hans Grimus in 2018 conversations began amongst the community about a means of marking his contribution to Mt Buller and the idea of a sculpture was raised.

In 2020 a request for proposals for a public artwork to commemorate Hans was developed.

The brief was for a bronze sculpture of Hans and his dog Captain on the Bourke Street Chair to be located at the entrance to the village.

A community consultative committee with representatives from National Australia Museums Association (NAMA), the Grimus family, Mt Buller Chamber, Mt Buller Ratepayers Association and the Resort Management Board was formed to assess responses.

From five proposals the committee were unanimous in their recommendation of the proposal by artists Dean Colls, Louise Skacej and Peter Corlette.

There was a fantastic response to a call to raise funds for supporting this project with individuals and organisations from across the Mt Buller and Australian Alpine community contributing more than $230,000.

Once installed the sculpture will become part of NAMA's collection, alongside other key pieces of public art at Mt Buller including works by Andrew Rodgers and Julia Anderson.

Cast in bronze the sculpture aims to capture Hans and Captain as they are shown in a photograph on the chairlift shortly after leaving the ground.

Carefully engineered stainless steel supports provide the necessary support for the sculpture without breaking the magic of the sense of being airborne.

Artists Peter Corlett OAM, Dean Colls and Louise Skacej bring over a century of cumulative experience producing award winning public artworks to this project.

Their humanist approach to portrait sculpture has produced an identifiable and relatable artwork for those who knew Hans and those who will never had the chance to meet him.

Both Dean and Louise have strong connections to the mountain.

Louise was secretary of the Melbourne State College Ski Club in the early 80s, and Dean fell in love with the mountain when he was at Timbertop and returned again and again to ski and walk its slopes.

"We have a great deal of affection for Mt Buller with all of us being keen skiers that have spent many seasons skiing and staying on the mountain," Dean Colls said.

In November the Hans Grimus Commemorative Sculpture reached a major milestone with the completion of the clay model.

The sculpture is not an exact reproduction of the image of Hans and Captain – Hans is an age in–between when the photograph was taken and the way many people remembered him in his later years.

To create such a dynamic and life–like clay model of Hans and Captain the artists drew on photographs and human and dog models to add as much detail as possible.

The New Year saw a series of molds created from the model so the bronze sculpture could be cast.

The sculpture will be unveiled on May 20, 2023 before invited guests only including – Lotte Grimus and the boys, lots of the donors, the committee that's managed all the fundraising etc.

There's will also be a wider community event on the Friday before King's Birthday Weekend – June 9.