Virgil "Smoker" Marchand said he is ready to start his 7-foot-tall sculpture of Lake Roosevelt schools mascot that will be placed at the front of the new school.

"I am just waiting for the go ahead, and then I can order the material," Marchand said.

He was selected to do an art piece as part of the public art associated with the new school complex.

"I have already designed 'Raider' and am anxious to get started on it," he said this week.

Marchand plans to create Raider at his shop in Omak and then place it at a site at the front of the entrance.

He said the sculpture will be a pirate, holding the school logo in one hand and a book in the other hand, depicting education.

Marchand said the piece will carry a lot of detail in the pirate vest and boots.

Marchand, several years ago, created the six women "digging roots" along the highway between Coulee Dam and Nespelem and "Bigfoot" near the top of Disautel Pass.

He said that Bigfoot carried a "12th man flag" at Super Bowl time and that a picture of that appeared on the Seahawks football team website.

Marchand said he recently signed a contract with the city of Spokane to produce a fisherman sculpture.

The Raider sculpture would take at least a couple of months, Marchand said. "I am anxious to get started on it," he said.