Carl Surges could be called the da Vinci of the Northwoods. He is a sculptor, artist, entrepreneur, and inventor. While he has lived all over the country and worked on all sorts of projects, his love of sculpting started right here in Wisconsin.

“My mother gave us kids clay when we were 3 years old, and we played with clay pretty much every rainy day.” Surges say.

As the years went on, Carl realized his talent for sculpting. That is what prompted him to send samples of his work to LA. Before he knew it, he had found a production company that liked what they saw.

Carl began doing work on stop motion animation as well as sculpting designs for major theme parks. His work has been featured at places like Universal Studios and Knott’s Berry Farm.

After years of sculpting for theme parks, Carl decided that he wanted to branch out. That is when Hollywood came calling. Many of his creations have been featured in some major motion pictures.

“I have done work on the movie, The Thing, which was mostly sculptural work and some of the creatures later on in the film. I also did work on the movie Beetlejuice.” Surges says.

In addition to work on everything from Star Trek to The Twilight Zone movie, Carl has also created toys, something that has worked to his advantage since he decided to move to Eagle River after years in California.

Today, Carl is largely retired from sculpting, now choosing to focus on running his business Pier of d’ Nort in St. Germain.