Peter Sawatzky

Peter Sawatzky, (born 1951) is a Canadian sculptor from the southern Manitoba community of Sommerfeld.

He is known for his large-scale work in bronze, many of animals.

Peter Sawatzky was born in 1951 in the Mennonite village of Sommerfeld, near Altona, Manitoba.

He grew up on his family's farm in Sommerfeld, and attended the Commercial Art Course at Red River College in Winnipeg through a scholarship.

In 1974, Sawatzky discovered his true interest which combined his fascination for bird life and for carving.

The first 15 years of his career were dedicated to mostly woodcarving and illustration, along with some painting.

He first carved birds in basswood using the wildlife in the Spruce Woods Provincial Park in Manitoba as models.

Awards and exhibitions won the artist international recognition, and by the mid 1980s, his success enabled him to make the decision to work in bronze and to set up his own foundry in Manitoba.

In 1995, he cast a 4000 lb bronze sculpture entitled The Passage of Time for the south side of Winnipeg's Charleswood Bridge.

One of Sawatzky's major influences is the wildlife artist and environmentalist Clarence Tillenius, who Sawatzky studied art, life drawing, and sculpting with at the Okanagan Summer Farm for one summer.

Notable works by Sawatzky include Seal River Crossing (2007) at Portage and Main in Winnipeg, Mother Polar Bear and Cubs (2014) at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, and a sculpture of Dirk Willems at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba (2018).

He received the Order of Manitoba in recognition of his work in 2008.

Later in life, Sawatzky moved near Glenboro.

The Peter Sawatzky Sculpture Garden is currently being developed in Brandon, Manitoba, to showcase a collection of Sawatzky's sculptures at the Riverbank Discovery Centre.

The collection will be themed after animals commonly found in the province.