COVID lockdown was a time to heal old wounds. And seal new Tri-Cities friendship in bronze

Who would’ve thought that a traumatic incident 56 years ago involving two 12-year-olds would bring them back together during the COVID pandemic — and to create beautiful art?

That’s what happened to Richland’s Clay Lewis and Larry Kessie.

Now as men and close friends, they’ve created bronze sculptures so impressive, they’re on display through June 8 at the Wenaha Gallery in Dayton.

“The interaction between (them), you could see how much fun they had doing this,” said Carolyn Henderson, event director at Wenaha.

“The quality of the sculptures is so good. It was a superb job. The attention they paid to the form, the muscular detail and its accuracy. And it was their first attempt,” she said.

But to get to this point, the pair had already talked out past tensions, problems and even despair — none of which was of their own making.

Track hall of fame

Lewis is well-known in the Mid-Columbia as a former long-time teacher and still a beloved track and field coach.

Inducted into the Washington State High School Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009, Lewis is still considered the guru of jumps. He still gets kids calling him, begging for help with their technique.

Lewis is always glad to oblige.

Most recently, he’s been coaching athletes online. And just a week into track and field season, he was asked to work with the Hanford High jumpers.

He’s also a fighter, beating cancer four times.

“They’ve all been victories so far,” said Lewis. “I keep my sense of humor about it. My attitude is strong.”

And although a heart attack in 2006 forced him to retire from teaching, he’s kept coaching.

He’s developed a following throughout the Northwest, and his former jumpers hold him dear.

“It’s exciting when kids want to come see you after they graduate, or they want to invite you to their wedding,” he said.

“There is nothing better than seeing the face of a kid after they experience success,” Lewis said. “It’s so rewarding to set a goal, then make that goal.”

One of Lewis’ state high school champions, Hanford High graduate Kurt Kraemer, praised Lewis for helping him throughout his career.

“Coach shared in both the highs and lows with me,” said Kraemer, who won five state high school track and field championships, became an NCAA track and field All-American, and was inducted into Eastern Washington University’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.

“In the lows, he’d build me back up. And I’m not sure if it was him or my parents who’d be more excited for my successes. Some coaches lead by negative reinforcement. But he was always a positive spot in my high school years and then later, college.”

But all of that never would have been possible if as a teenager, Lewis hadn’t found a role model when he needed it most.

Schoolroom trial

Lewis’ troubles started with a pencil in fifth-grade at Fruitland Elementary in Kennewick.

His father had given him a pencil, and he took it to school. Another boy accused Lewis of stealing his pencil. And the teacher held a weekly, one-hour trial, to decide Lewis’ innocence or guilt.

The teacher made Kessie the prosecutor.

It was almost too much for the 12-year-old Lewis, who described himself as small, socially awkward, with buck teeth and a stutter.

“I had to deal with my friends and classmates thinking that I was a thief. That fifth-grade ordeal tipped things, hurt my self esteem,” he said.

“It was so bad at that time, I wanted to commit suicide,” Lewis now admits.

But he couldn’t tell his parents because he was embarrassed.

“I would go for a run in Zintel Canyon. I’d run hills,” Lewis said. “At a certain place I’d get down on my knees and I prayed, and I’d pray, ‘Please God. Change me.’”

He never acted on the suicidal feelings — he knew his parents would be devastated — but he remained miserable for a few years.

Then three things happened. He grew 7 inches taller between 9th and 10th grades; he met a teacher and coach who changed his life; and he found the Fosbury Flop.

His new height allowed him to try athletics, and he found he could jump.

Fosbury Flop

At Kennewick High, Lewis became one of the first high jumpers in the state to do the Fosbury Flop — started by U.S. Gold Medal Olympian Dick Fosbury in the 1968 Olympics.

Fosbury would approach the high jump bar. But rather than throw his leg over the bar, straddling it face down, he went over the bar with his back hovering over the bar and his face looking skyward.

After seeing one photo in the newspaper, Lewis taught himself the maneuver. Later, Sports Illustrated came out with a series of photos, making it easier for Lewis to learn it.

Lewis eventually set the Kennewick High boys high jumping record at 6-foot-4.

And his life changed for the better when he met a teacher and coach, Burdon “Duck” Daugherty.

Daugherty made such an impact on Lewis, that in Lewis’ hall of fame speech in 2009 he mentioned his regret of not ever being able to tell his old mentor how much he meant to him.

Later, he got a second chance. Another coach told Lewis that Daugherty was still alive and living in Western Washington.

“He was in his 80s. But I was able to tell him how much he had meant to me. I told him, ‘I owe it to you that I became a coach.’”

Kennewick High track

Lewis and Kessie were on the same track team at Kennewick High — Kessie was a pole vaulter — but they hung out in different circles.

Yet, through all of Kessie’s success as an architect — working 15 years for Bechtel, and spending almost his entire career out at the Hanford area — the fifth-grade incident had always bothered him.

“It was really kind of a strange deal,” he recalled. “I was the prosecutor. It affected me all of these years in that I couldn’t get rid of it. The part of making someone feel bad, it stayed with me. Clay and I talked. I apologized to him.”

Lewis said that was never necessary.

“Larry was dealing with this too,” said Lewis. “I never blamed Larry at all. He’s a classy guy.”

Kessie’s wife, Teri, worked with Lewis in the Richland School District. She told Larry to contact Clay and talk about it.

COVID pandemic

During the early part of the COVID lockdown in February 2020, Lewis bumped into Kessie at the Spudnut Shop in Richland.

Lewis told him he was looking to do a high jumping sculpture to use as a teaching and coaching method for his jumpers.

“Larry got excited, and said, ‘Let’s do one together,’” said Lewis. “Our journey through COVID with all of this stuff was huge for both of us.”

So they spent numerous nights in Lewis’ shop — each at their own table 12 feet apart — and worked through the sculptures, their past, and talking about life.

“There were periods of time that were really intense,” Kessie said. “We got into some serious conversations.”

“We talked it out,” Lewis added.

And the sculptures were a challenge: Trying to get the facial features correct, the fingers, the right materials for the high jump pits.

Both say YouTube helped a lot, as did using anatomy books.

These sculptures were never intended to be bronzed, but just clay.

But Lewis invited an artist friend, Ron Gerton, to look at them.

“He suggested we get them bronzed,” said Kessie. After looking at a few different places, they decided to go with Valley Bronze in Joseph, Ore. “It was worth every penny of it.”

Then Kessie contacted Wenaha to possibly exhibit them.

Henderson at the Dayton gallery, owned by Ed and Pat Harri, quickly agreed.

“You could tell they worked really hard at it,” she said. “The attention to detail was noticeable. Their working together as a team is pretty impressive. That’s not easy, because everybody is sensitive in getting criticism.”

And the project has continued to morph.

“It’s been four phases,” Kessie said. “Doing the sculptures for coaching; then doing it in bronze; marketing them to the Dayton gallery; and now, seeing if we can sell some.”

There are limited runs of 25 for each sculpture.

Kessie even put together a book, called “Larry and Clay: A Friendship Renewed Through the Process of Art and Sculpture.”

It shows the entire project, with photos of the process that began on a cold February day with the idea, through the bronzing in August, and beyond.

Growing friendship

Both already are artistic.

Lewis makes beautiful wood products in his home shop and is a photography buff.

Kessie, a retired architect, has done portrait art with paints and pencils, architectural art and landscapes.

This was their first foray into bronze work.

Kessie’s sculpture is called “The High Jumper.”

“Everything in the high jump is about the takeoff,” said Lewis. “And Larry’s takeoff would determine my sculpture.”

Lewis’ is called “You Can Fly,” with the jumper hovering half over the bar.

But it’s more than about sculptures.

“This has been healing for both of us,” said Kessie.

Lewis agrees.

“We had no clue what this whole process was going to be like,” said Lewis. “But it felt pretty comfortable and natural. It wasn’t awkward. Since we’ve reconnected, Larry’s probably my closest friend.”

And it’s given Lewis peace of mind.

“I can’t help but hope that I totally credit God for twisting my experience into a positive outcome,” Lewis said. “I totally credit God for my positive turnaround in life.”

The Wenaha Gallery, 219 East Main St., Dayton, is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and by appointment, 509-382-2124.