Mosaic Prefontaine portrait embedded with Hayward history of track and field

Nothing — even death it seems — can stop Steve Prefontaine.

His likeness stares back at us from a memorial surrounded by tokens left by his fans at the site of his 1975 death.

A running trail — winding its way through Douglas firs and hazelnut trees in Alton Baker Park — bears his name.

A bronze sculpture of the man — in full stride— seems to burst from the alleyway of the 5th Street Public Market on his way to the Willamette River.

And now, just in time to take its place at the Village Plaza at the World Athletics Championships, a new work of art called "Stop Pre" has been born.

The work, a collaboration between "local boy" Justin Bauer and London, England-based artist Matt Small, has been years in the envisioning, but took only 10 days to complete.

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In 2018 Small was invited to participate in the 20x21 Mural Project initiated by the City of Eugene Cultural Service's Public Art Program. Bauer and Small met and became friends.

For that project Small created a tribute to Jesse Owens that graces the entry to the alley on Willamette Street between East Seventh and Eighth avenues.

One of the unique aspects of the 20x21 Mural Project was a plan to stage a gallery show of other work by each of the participants. The pandemic put the skids to that idea.

Disappointed, Bauer started looking for an alternative.

"I like finishing things," he said. "If all I did was bring one artist back, I wanted to do that."

One of the ideas that swirled around all that time was a tribute to Steve Prefontaine. As a local, Bauer knew all about the legacy — Small quickly signed on.

"If you have lived in Eugene for any amount of time," said Bauer, "it is not long before you realize what Pre means to everyone."

"The impact on our lives is really amazing."

This spring Bauer invited Small back to Eugene and the two set to work on the piece.

The concept was to create a mosaic portrait of Pre on a background shaped like a stop sign — invoking the Stop Pre T-shirt from the '70s — and build in using pieces of salvaged metal. Everything from an old Bauer family camp table to reclaimed pieces of the demolished Hayward Field were pressed into service.

Bauer worked on the outside and Small on the face.

"To pull something like this off in 10 days you have to collaborate," Bauer said.

In the center, a remarkable likeness of Prefontaine emerged — that from a distance — appears as a painting, but on closer inspection reveals the history of track and field at Hayward Field.

Pieces of old red colored track — some cut to reveal the layers, others the rough running surface — pieces of siding, stands and signage combine to make up the whole.

Several broken pieces of waffle iron make up Pre's hair line recalling the story of how Bill Bowerman raided his wife's kitchen in search of a mold for his original shoe tread design.

"The closer you get, the portrait kind of dissolves and now you are looking at the artifacts," he said,

Given the age and textures of the components, it is easy to imagine Prefontaine's DNA embedded deep within.

For now, the work will adorn the Village Plaza set up for competitors during their stay on the University of Oregon campus.

A connection with Carolyn Stein of Bring Recycling, who is also overseeing sustainability initiatives for Oregon22, lead to that temporary home.

After that? Bauer hopes to let the public have a closer look. Stay tuned for further details. He and Small hope eventually to find someone who would like to own the work.

So far, the project is a self-funded labor of love. "We started this before we had the rest figured out," Bauer said with a laugh. "But build it and they will come."

"Fingers crossed."

Contact photographer Chris Pietsch at chris.pietsch@registerguard.com, or follow him on Twitter @ChrisPietsch and Instagram @chrispietsch.

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This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene mural project artists create Prefontaine with Hayward scrap