Check out the stegosaurus, megalosaurus and thesaurus at the library
Local woodcarver Robert Unik has donated benches all over our region. You can check out his work from Grand Marais, where a carved butterfly bench makes its home, to West St. Paul where one of his creations is in the Access Centre and all points in between. He’s also raffled off a bench to support the people of Ukraine and now is delighting Selkirk library goers with his latest donation of a 200 lb. dinosaur bench which makes its home at the Gaynor Family Regional Library.
“I did a dinosaur carving years ago for [the Royal Tyrrell Museum]. We’re talking late 90s and I haven’t really carved dinosaurs since then. So, I thought, ‘I’m a bench carver. Let’s go ahead and try carving a bench just for the heck of it.’ and then I carved and it turned out really nice,” said Unik.
The bench is incredibly detailed as are all of Unik’s benches making them art pieces in addition to functional items. This bench is covered in dinosaur carvings which are based on our current understanding of what dinosaurs may have looked like based on fossil remains.
Unik said that he had decided to donate the bench but initially didn’t know who might be interested in it. Being a Selkirk local, this time he felt the bench should stay close to home.
“I was born and raised in Selkirk and I thought, ‘How can I contribute back to Selkirk?’ Then I went to the library and thought that’s a perfect place because a lot of people [use the space],” he said.
The library administration agreed and the bench is now in the children’s section where children and their adults get to enjoy it.
“[When it was first put in it had] only been there for a day and there were maybe a dozen kids playing on it and jumping on it and when I build my benches they are solid. They’re not going to fall apart and I just stood back and just watched them play on it and putting their hands in the T-Rex’s mouth and stuff like that and just seeing the smiles on their faces,” said Unik.
Unik is a retired teacher and wanted to make sure that the bench was interactive so all the dinosaurs depicted are actual dinosaurs that we know existed. There are a mix of herbivores and carnivores and there is also a prehistoric alligator and fish as well.
This is not the first bench that Unik has donated as there are many throughout the region and residents will be able to spot his benches because of Unik’s distinct artistic style, colourful work and fun, and sometimes humorous, subject matter.
He is happy that residents can now enjoy this piece of practical art in our community.
“It’s something that you can use; something you can sit on and enjoy,” he said.
If you would like to follow Unik’s work, he posts his creations on Facebook. He also takes commissions and teaches woodcarving classes. Unik’s email is rob_unik@mymts.net.
