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People all over the world have a sense of Carbon County's coal-mining heritage from the sculptures of Gary Prazen, who died earlier this month and is being honored Saturday afternoon at Price's Carbon Country Club.
Prazen never worked in the mines, but having lived around Price for most of his 80 years and having served as a county commissioner, he knew full well what a dangerous occupation mining can be. He portrayed miners as individuals with great character.
"Gary's coal miners are proud. They're big, strong guys and take a stand," said Danny Blanton, Prazen's son-in-law and business partner in Original Creations Inc. "It's a hard way to make a living, and Gary thought it should be recognized and honored."
He did so with life-size bronze statues of miners in full working gear, with statuettes the National Mining Association gave to "Sentinels of Safety" award recipients, and with several styles of miner's lamps, reflective of the most basic safety element for miners deep underground.
Most recently, Prazen and Blanton helped create monuments dedicated to the 1,524 people killed in mining accidents in Carbon and Emery counties over the past century.
"Gary was a hard-working man and he understood the dedication of hard-working people," said Mike Dalpiaz, who has spent decades working for miners as a high-ranking official in the United Mine Workers of America union. "It was heartfelt. That was Gary Prazen, just a working-class guy."
Dalpiaz has a life-size bronze of a miner in his office and for many years gave Prazen's artwork to honorees of awards from the UMWA's international organization.
"I loved to look at the facial expressions on Gary's figures," he said, noting a sculpture of two little kids greeting their miner dad. "They showed the joy of families, the face of dedication."
Carbon County sculptor and painter Karen Jobe Templeton, who created a memorial for the nine victims of the 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine disaster, said as much as Prazen's work was appreciated in Utah's coal country, "he was highly regarded outside of Utah. He was always well received at a huge [sculpting] convention in Las Vegas and had a major impact on the mining community."
"He had a lot of admirers," Blanton agreed, citing regular customers from Ireland, South Africa, Australia and Russia.
Prazen did not limit his work to coal mining. He first sculpted actor John Wayne. Over the years, he produced sculptures of Western wildlife and people fishing and golfing, which was his latest love.
"Gary could find inspiration in anything," Blanton said, noting their studio in Helper is filled with his partially completed projects — besides nearly 300 custom pieces the company holds rights to.
"He wasn't here to make a fortune. He just wanted to make a living to support his family and the people working for him," Blanton added. "But he always wanted to leave behind a legacy and was prolific enough to do that."
A celebration of his life will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Country Club. Preceded in death in August by his wife of 60 years, Janet, Prazen is survived by his son, Dan; daughter, Mila Sisneros; stepchildren Heather Schmitz, Patricia Blanton and Charles Adaleye; four grandchildren, a sister and a brother.
Frank Gary Prazen
1936-2016