Nightmare Elk

2020 metal sculpture temporarily installed in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (September 2021)

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Nightmare Elk

The statue in August 2020

Year| 2020 (2020)
Medium| Metal sculpture
Location| Portland, Oregon, United States
Coordinates| 45°30′57″N 122°40′39″W﻿ / ﻿45.5157°N 122.6775°W﻿ / 45.5157; -122.6775

The "Nightmare Elk" was a metal sculpture of an elk, temporarily installed in Portland, Oregon.

## Description

[edit]

The statue which became known as the "nightmare elk" was crafted in metal by an unknown artist.[1] Andrew D. Jankowski and Safiyah Maurice of Oregon ArtsWatch said the sculpture had "a Louise Bourgeois death metal aesthetic".[2]

## History

[edit]

The makeshift sculpture was erected in downtown Portland by demonstrators in July 2020, during the George Floyd protests. The statue replaced the Thompson Elk Fountain, a 1900 bronze sculpture and fountain by Roland Hinton Perry which became a target of graffiti and fires during the protests.[1]

### Removal and reactions

[edit]

The statue

On the morning of October 10, 2020, a crew led by Patriot Prayer supporter Chandler Pappas removed the statue at approximately 9am. Pappas approved and began planning the removal a few days prior. There was little resistance from others during the act; only one man who had been sleeping nearby shouted and watched as the group of 8–10 people easily lifted the sculpture, which was not anchored.[1]

Following the statue's removal, Patriot Prayer posted two messages to Twitter. The first had a photograph of supporters posing with the elk in a trailer bed and said, "He is registered to vote and will now be voting for Trump".[1] Some of the group members were shown flashing the OK gesture, in reference to the debunked belief that it was a symbol of white nationalism. The second Twitter post showed a voter registration sheet for "elk Nightmare" and said, "The evil elk is now registered to vote". Pappas insisted the voter registration was not actually submitted for election purposes. He said Patriot Prayer was "having fun" and called the statue removal "a little push back to antifa".[1]

Believing antifa supporters erected the sculpture after setting fire to the Thompson Elk, Pappas said, "There can't be a double standard. We toed the line. That elk is just trash so all I really did was clean up trash."[1] He also said the makeshift elk was removed "as a political statement" and the hand gestures were meant "to antagonize" people "who don't know any better". Pappas said the message was directed at Kate Brown and Ted Wheeler, the governor of Oregon and mayor of Portland, respectively, as well as other city officials.[1] According to The Oregonian's Maxine Bernstein, "Social media lit up with fans and critics of the elk escapade." PDX Frontline Alerts, a Twitter account used to provide updates on the protests, called the statue a "memorial for Black victims of police violence" and accused Patriot Prayer of "bragging" about the removal. Pappas told The Oregonian, "That's not the last you'll see of the elk."[1]

### Replacement and subsequent appearance

[edit]

The metal elk statue was replaced with another sculpture of an elk made of branches, duct tape, and wood pallets.[3]

In November 2020, the "nightmare elk" appeared at a rally in support of Donald Trump in Salem, Oregon.[4]

## See also

[edit]

* Oregon portal
* Visual arts portal

* 2020 in art
* Black Lives Matter art in Portland, Oregon

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Bernstein, Maxine (October 10, 2020). "Downtown's 'nightmare elk' statue snatched by Patriot Prayer supporter to send 'political message'". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
2. ^ Jankowski, Andrew D.; Maurice, Safiyah (August 20, 2020). "The lens is cracked: Art and protest in the summer of 2020". Oregon ArtsWatch. Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
3. ^ "Protesters Have Built Another Elk Statue Downtown After the Previous One Was Taken by Patriot Prayer". 14 October 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
4. ^ "Portland's purloined 'Nightmare Elk' statue turns up at pro-Trump rally in Salem". The Oregonian. 2020-11-14. Archived from the original on 2021-09-26. Retrieved 2021-10-03.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nightmare Elk.

* 'Nightmare Elk' in downtown Portland on YouTube, KOIN (October 10, 2020)

* v
* t
* e

Public art in Portland, Oregon

Sculptures

* 118 Modules
* Ainu and Native American power boards
* Allow Me
* Alluvial Wall
* Along These Lines
* Artwall
* Ascension
* Awning
* Bell Circles II
* Broken Wall Memorial
* Brushstrokes
* Burls Will Be Burls
* The Burnside Nest
* Bust of York†
* Cairns
* Capitalism
* Cat in Repose
* Chinatown Gateway
* City Reflections
* Constellation
* Continuation
* Contact II
* Coraline's Curious Cat Trail†
* Da Tung and Xi'an Bao Bao
* Daddy Long Legs
* Dog Bowl
* Driver's Seat
* Echo Gate
* Electronic Poet
* Facing the Crowd
* Farewell to Orpheus
* Festival Lanterns
* Floribunda
* Folly Bollards
* Fountain to a Rose†
* Friendship Circle
* From Within Shalom
* Garden Wreath
* Ghost Ship
* The Green Man of Portland
* Heart Beacon
* Holon
* Host Analog
* Howard's Way
* Ideals
* In Honor of a Lifetime of Sexual Assault†
* In the Shadow of the Elm
* Interlocking Forms
* Inversion: Plus Minus
* John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial
* Kerf
* Korean Temple Bell
* Kvinneakt
* Leland I
* Lewis and Clark Memorial Column
* Liberty Bell
* Little Prince
* Mago Hermano (Brother Wizard or Magician)
* Memory 99
* Mimir
* Nash
* Nepenthes
* Nightmare Elk†
* O Cruceiro
* Oregon Landscape
* Oregon Holocaust Memorial
* Oregon Irish Famine Memorial
* Passage
* Peace Chant
* People's Bike Library of Portland
* Perpetuity
* Pod
* Portland Immigrant Statue
* Portlandia
* The Promised Land†
* The Quest
* The Responsibility of Raising a Child
* Ring of Time
* The Rippling Wall
* River Legend
* Royal Rosarian
* Running Horses
* Salmon Cycle Marker
* The Scout
* Sculpture Stage
* Silicon Forest
* Silver Dawn
* Soaring Stones
* Solar Wreath
* Spanish–American War Soldier's Monument
* Spanish–American War Veterans Memorial†
* Stack Stalk
* Stratum
* Streetcar Stop for Portland
* Talos No. 2
* Tecotosh
* Terra Incognita
* Theodore Roosevelt Memorial†
* This All Happened More or Less
* Thor
* Three Figures
* Tikitotmoniki Totems
* Transcendence
* Tree of Life
* Triad
* Trio
* Trigger 4
* Unfolding Rhythms
* Untitled
* Killmaster
* Morrison
* West
* Upstream Downtown
* Urban Hydrology
* Uroboros
* Velosaurus
* Ventana al Pacifico
* Victory Bell
* Voices of Remembrance
* Water, Please
* We Have Always Lived Here
* Weather Machine
* Whistlestop for an Organ Teacher
* Wind Gate
* Winter Rider No. 2
* Yankee Champion
* You Are Here

| Fountains|

* Animals in Pools
* Charles Frederic Swigert Jr. Memorial Fountain
* Chiming Fountain
* The Dreamer
* Essential Forces
* Fountain for Company H
* Frank E. Beach Memorial Fountain
* Horse Trough Fountain
* Keller Fountain
* Lovejoy Fountain
* Loyal B. Stearns Memorial Fountain
* Memorial Fountain
* Pioneer Woman
* Salmon Street Springs
* Shemanski Fountain
* Skidmore Fountain
* Thompson Elk Fountain†

|

Portrait
statues|

* Paul Bunyan
* Captain William Clark Monument
* Coming of the White Man
* The Dream
* Benjamin Franklin
* Thomas Jefferson
* Joan of Arc
* Vera Katz
* Abraham Lincoln†
* Oddo Memorial
* Sacajawea and Jean-Baptiste
* Harvey W. Scott†
* Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider†
* George Washington†
* York: Terra Incognita

Murals

* Black Lives Matter street mural†
* Capax Infiniti
* Conduit
* The Continuity of Life Forms
* George Floyd mural†
* The Knowledge
* Lovejoy Columns
* Never Look Away
* Oregon History
* Packy mural†
* Portland Memorial Mausoleum Mural
* Tri It
* We Stand with You
* Women Making History in Portland
* Woodstock Mural

Related

* A Donkey, 3 Rocks, and a Bird.
* Art collection of Oregon Health & Science University
* Benson Bubbler
* Black Lives Matter art
* Elkhorn
* Fathom (art installation)
* Graffiti in Portland, Oregon
* Horse rings
* Martini glass sign
* Robot Alley
* Santa Clones

Key: † No longer extant or on public display
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