Chicago sculptor picked to create Redenbacher figure

VALPARAISO | When Lou Cella's mom saw a story in a Chicago newspaper that Valparaiso was looking for someone to do a life-sized sculpture of Orville Redenbacher, she called him immediately.

On Wednesday, Cella was approved by the city's Redevelopment Commission to create a likeness of the popcorn king for a park bench in the downtown Central Park Plaza. Cella will receive $62,000 for the commission, and it is scheduled to be unveiled Labor Day weekend. The city hopes to pay for the statute with donations.

Redevelopment Commission President Laura Campbell said members were impressed with Cella.

"We had a system of rating (the 13 applicants) looking at the budget, their past work, what renderings have the best look and feel of Orville, and we couldn't get off Lou," Campbell said. "We loved that he had a lot of movement, definition and detail to the sculpture."

Cella the idea of sculpting Redenbacher appealed to him.

"He's an interesting guy and I enjoy sculpting people, so it is the kind of thing I would enjoy doing," Cella said. "I did one of the mayor of Oak Lawn that was the same concept of a figure sitting on a bench. There's something about the relaxed nature of it that appeals to me."

Cella, 48, was born and raised in Chicago and went to Illinois State University, where he majored in art. He did not get actively involved in sculpture until later.

As his interest in sculpture grew in the mid-1990s, he discovered the creators of the Michael Jordan figure in Chicago were teachers in the area and contacted them.

He's been a part of the Rotblatt/Amrany Studio of Fine Arts stable of artists since working on a wide range of sculptures from the extremely realistic to the existential. His works include sculptures of Harry Caray and Ernie Banks at Wrigley Field, Frank Thomas at U.S. Cellular Field and the 7-acre war memorial park in Munster.

When he was sculpting the Thomas figure, he contacted Dave and Debbie Cook, owners of Hoosier Bat Co. in Valparaiso, because Thomas used their bats. They provided Cella with a replica to use as the model for the sculpture, and he later got a tour of the bat-making facility and the city. When he learned he'd been chosen for the Redenbacher sculpture, the Cooks were among the first people he called.

"It's never routine," Cella said of each sculpture. "I don't really know what I will run into until I start working on it. He's got a great face. I love working on the face, and that's where my greatest strength lies. I consider it to be the most important part of the sculpture.

"No matter what you do with the body, if the face is not right, it isn't right," he said. "It can technically look like the subject, but until it feels like Orville Redenbacher, it isn't done. He's got a great big smile and he looks like Orville Redenbacher, and I've got to get the whole package right."

Cella will have to work from photos and films, and he hopes to have examples that show Redenbacher from every angle because "it's a sculpture, not a painting." Cella said the park is a good location because the sun's natural lighting will bring the bronze figure to life. He might even recommend what he thinks is the best site for the sculpture.

"I got very excited right away," Cella said of doing the figure. "The subject matter struck me right away. I take it personally and lose myself in it. You find yourself wanting to know more about them."

He said his 8-year-old daughter will "help" on the days she's not in school. Asked if he thought she might be an artist like her father, Cella said, "I'd like her to be a wealthy artist."