ESTES PARK – The Estes Arts District and The Historic Stanley Hotel are delighted to announce a surprise outcome to their national Stanley Sculpture Contest. Instead of selecting one sculpture it was determined late Wednesday evening to proceed with funding all three of the finalist design submissions.

The three surprise grand-prize winners include: The Visionary by Daniel Glanz and Sutton Betti, Twin Sisters by Jane DeDecker, and Bell and Arch by Larry Elardo.

The contest was curated and judged by a panel that included members from Estes Arts District board, Estes Park Art in Public Spaces board and the Western Heritage Art Show managers. Funding for the project came from The Stanley Hotel.

Originally structured to provide a budget of $50,000 for one final sculpture design, the late night deliberations of the Arts District and The Stanley Hotel resulted in an outcome of awarding all three artists the grand prize. The three award winners were selected from over fifty entries submitted from around the country.

“Each artist brought such a beautiful and compelling piece, it was impossible to pick just one” said Cydney Springer, who organized the contest for the Estes Arts District. “The Stanley Hotel Sculpture Collection will be a gift for our community and visitors to enjoy for many years to come.”

Each of the three winning artists will build a full-size version of their miniature replicas produced for the contest. The full-size sculptures will be placed on the grounds of The Stanley Hotel for the public to enjoy.

“I’m just as surprised as the artists that we ended up going with all three, but I know the sculptures will delight our guests and visitors, which makes it all worthwhile,” said Stanley Hotel owner John Cullen. “I can’t wait to see these exquisite sculptures rendered full-size.”

Final full-scale versions of the sculptures will be installed and unveiled in a phased process beginning with The Visionary by Daniel Glanz and Sutton Betti in the Stanley Hedge Maze in September 2016.

The sculpture project is part of Estes Park’s increased focus on supporting the arts and the Estes artist community. The sculptures also complement The Stanley’s increased focus on the arts, culture and entertainment, which includes the addition of over $35M in hotel and event venue investment.

Visit StanleyHotel.com or https://www.facebook.com/thestanleyhotel to learn more about the winning sculpture and video of the three presentations.