A train, an elk, and the back end of a what?

One in a series of Viva Cuba artist updates for 2010

Glenn and Curtis Tutterrow are a father and son duo that do their work at the family business Wildlife Unlimited. They are taxidermists, craftsmen, and artists.

Their work is in museums, businesses, and homes around the country. Their business at 702 S. Franklin/Hwy. 19 features animals in their habitats, photography, paintings, sculpture, and some of their current projects. So closely do they work together that it is often tell who does what on their projects.

The Tutterrows' store is a rich gallery of their projects.

Glenn sculpted the elk out front by his sign when he couldn’t find someone to make one for him at an affordable price. And his pheasant sculpture would do any home or business proud.

Glen Tutterrow sculpted this pheasant out of 18 gauge metal.

The Tutterrows fabricated the 1873 train replica for the Viva Cuba Garden and, currently, they are making some decorative metal brochure boxes that will hold tourist informational brochures about some of Cuba’s art, history, and businesses. Glen contributed a painted chair to last year’s Viva Cuba Chair-i-table Auction.

The Tutterrows fabricated and installed the 1873 train replica in the Viva Cuba Garden.

A niche product for the Tutterrows has grown out of a humorous commission of the back end of donkey for the Toby Keith movie Beer for My Horses with Keith, Willie Nelson, Mel Tillis, and Ted Nugent. If you have seen the comedy, do you remember the back end of the donkey that was on the saloon wall during the shootout in the Mexican bar? Well, that little stage gag was the work of the Tutterrows.

The Tutterrows are always up for a challenge. This is the stage prop in production. The mounted front end is still available.

Recently, they were contacted by a Harley Davidson dealership in Louisiana that also wanted another back end of a donkey to use in an ad. They had seen Beer for My Horses and wanted the same thing. Who knew that there would be a demand for this unusual commission.

Now, if you know someone with a “man shed,” who would like to have a mounted front end of a donkey, Glen has a couple in stock. When the guys kick back to watch Beer for My Horses, the owner of the front end can be proud in his ownership of a part of movie history.  Or Glenn can make another back end.  It’s a niche market, but Glen and Curtis get a kick out of it.

Another project they are working on for lodge style decor is Curtis’s casting replica molds of 25 African animals with a European mount of heads and horns. Some are on display in their store, and it will be a continuing project during the summer.

For a look at some Ozark ingenuity and craftsmanship, stop by Wildlife Unlimited. There is always something new to see. In fact, when I stopped by to take photos, I found so many projects going on that I may have to write The Tutterrows II at a later date.