GRIZZLY MEMORIES, The Book

Order your copy of this 38 page 8x10 hardbound book containing 212 photos and the story behind The Grizzly Gathering project. From inception to conclusion, everything is here, the joys and heartaches, successes and tribulations. click here to preview the first 15 pages of the book, to check on pricing, and to place your order.

TOP GRIZ IN SHOW

Ursus Horribilis topped the winnings chart with a sale for $31,000. That's $27,500 that will go into the pot to spend on improvements in the youth sections of the Park County library system. Congratulations to buyer, Glenn Borkenhagen, to artist, Joy Simpson, and to the Centered Heart, which will receive the grizzly for display at its offices on East Sheridan Avenue in Cody.

THANKS ** THANKS ** THANKS **

Several hundred auction and library lovers turned out to bid on the big painted fiberglass grizzlies.

Get ready for this! Counting all 25 bears, the project gained $216,550!

The project coordinators are over the moon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

CALENDARS!!! GRIZ CALENDARS, PERSONALIZED

Interested in pictures of all the bears?

Want a memory of the summer of 2008?

Wish to share the bears with clients and friends?

Buy a calendar or a batch of them. Each has a dropdown that can be personalized with:

• Your business name, logo, and slogan
• Your Christmas greetings
• Your ___________. You decide.

To order or find out more, call 587-4637

THE AUCTION IS COMING

In just three weeks, on October 4th, the grizzlies will come together for the last time--big and small--all will gather to celebrate the opening of the new Park County Library.

Come to enjoy the splendid new facility, to see all of the grizzlies together, and to enjoy the auction of the big bears.

Where? The Park County Complex (old Marathon Building).

When? October 4th ceremonies begin at 3:00
Auction begins at 4:30

If you're interested in learning more about the auction, contact the coordinator@grizgathering.com.

LITTLE BEAR SILENT AUCTION ENDS

The Little Bear silent auction ended on Labor Day, earning $15,200 for the youth sections of the Park County libraries. Many thanks to the great artists who participated, donating their time and talent, to the Cody Country Art League which hosted much of the event, and to everyone else who helped with posters and publicity, with hosting the little bears and helping in other ways.

The little bears will remain on display at the Cody Country Art League through the month of September, then will be part of the big GATHERING of grizzlies (big and little) as part of the celebrations surrounding the opening of the new Park County Library on 4 October 2008.

The high bids on the little bears will be announced at 4:30 on the 4th. Any time within the next week, the high bidders can pay for their bear and collect him at the new library in Cody. Anyone unable to do so, should make alternate arrangements.

The winners of the artists competition will also be announced at that time. To maintain the suspense, the prices posted on the Little Bear web page will remain those of a week before the auction's closing. Final prices will be posted on 4 October.

LITTLE GRIZZLY MIGRATIONS

Attention! The 30 little grizzlies currently migrating around Park County will be gathered together at the old Cody library for its closing on 16 August, arriving the afternoon of 14 August. The silent auction bid sheets will be with them, for those who are interested in bidding.

On 19 August, the little bears will resume their migratory patterns, their individual locations being posted on www.grizgathering.com/littlebears.html.

The little bears will disappear from their migratory haunts on 29 August, gathering at the Cody Country Art League for a final GATHERING OF THE LITTLE GRIZZLIES. They will have their bid sheets.

Labor Day is the last day of bidding, which closes at 4:00 pm.

The little grizzlies, though, will remain on exhibit at the CCAL for the month of September, the names of the high bidders being announced and the bears going to their permanent homes on 4 October.

Comments

Someone asked me what kind of reaction the bears have gotten in their street locations. Here's some of what I've heard. Blog back with your stories and comments.

The tourists, it's safe to say, love them -- great photo op. The kids climb on them, straddle their legs, and pat their noses.

Like with other street art projects, there are families that go around finding the bears, and there are lots of comparisons, like, "I've found 22. How many did you get?" One guy has even located and photographed all 29 little bears and all 25 big ones.

People have strong feelings about some of the bears--Laura Anderson's and Paul Clymer's in particular. Hate or Love. It's the strong colors. A local attorney walked up to a Powell librarian a week ago and told her, "That clown bear is horrible." She said, "You wouldn't think so if you saw the kids loving on him. He's a favorite."

That's the way it goes. Then, there are folks who favor the Hammersmark and Ringer/Tremblay bear's because "they look like bears."

And the bees--the Chuck Ringer and Den Barhaug bees--have people buzzing. A pair of slim young women in summer hats and frocks with a Kentucky license plate drove up to the Pinnacle Bank and, as I watched, got out, set up their camera, and took a picture of the two of them with their heads next to the Ringer bear's nose. As for Den's bees, they've had to be replaced.

I talked to a guy who has bid on a couple of the little bears and intends to buy one of the big ones--just 'cause "I get a kick out of them." A woman told me, "I just have to have one of the big bears. Wouldn't Paul Clymer's bear look AWESOME in my back yard."

One of the Cody downtown merchants said, "There are more local people downtown this summer than I've ever seen. They come because the bears are here."

The Bare Bones bear has people talking about just what he's supposed to be. Is it really a rendering of the way grizzly bones look or is he meant to be a spook as in a Halloween bear? And, if the latter, why is he mostly blue?

There's a rumor making the rounds that one of the bears lost a foot. I had someone tell me, as fact, that some cowboy took it off. Another person said that the foot had been brought back and glued in place so no one would know. Well, if so, they did a good job.

About the little bears, people get to vote with their pocket books. And they are. Check them out. There are locator guides in The Cody Enterprise, at the libraries and banks.

What I like best is that all of these sculptures are all truly popular art, evoking emotion and reaction and a range of other feelings. Which, to me, is what art is all about. The hands-on experience, the sharing and sense of ownership is part of bringing everyone together and into the creative process.

The grizzlies gathered on June 21 at the Park County complex bringing some 500 people to the grounds, many for the first time, and providing an air of festivity below the great backdrop of Heart Mountain. The ponds, lawns, and trees provided a welcoming setting for the county and the grizzlies to get to know each other.

After several hours of "getting to know you," the grizzlies moved on to their summer quarters. Thanks to the women of the Heart Mountain Dressage Club, their 3/4 ton trucks and big trailers, to the contribution of a skidsteer by Woodward Tractor, and to the men of Cook's Moving, the process was accomplished in a few hours.

The Grizzlies are Here!

The Grizzlies Gathered on 21 July, then moved to their summer quarters around Cody and Powell, Wyoming. Get a free map at one of our libraries or Chambers of Commerce and visit them all.

Griz Merchandise

Grizzly Merchandise is available at Yellowstone Gifts and the Park County libraries.

• Teeshirts in four colors and four sizes.
• Caps with the logo on the front and GrizGathering embroider on the back.
• Roomy totes
• By order only - calendars featuring all of the grizzlies plus information on sponsors and artists
• Also, by order - notecards featuring your favorite bear plus information on the artist and sponsor

Coming Soon:

• Mugs featuring the logo
• Catalogs that, in addition to the fabulous photography of Elijah Cobb, include histories of the project and the library system, biographies of the artists, and much more.
• and FREE MAPS to guide you to the grizzly haunts.
  For more information, contact the coordinator@grizgathering.com or call Nancy on 307/587-4637

photo by Elijah Cobb
Rising above the clouds, Tom McCoy's bear shows the nobility of his species. He will greet visitors this summer for his sponsors, "Reindeer Ranch," on Sheridan Avenue in Cody, a favorite shopping place for tourists and locals seeking the perfect gift for any holiday or occasion.

A First Gathering of Grizzlies

"All present and accounted for, Sir!"

Aligned in columns and dressed right, twenty-five grizzlies await inspection.

Photo Shoot, Bear Bones by Lana Perrotti and Erika Tenjack with bear bones photo by Elijah Cobb

It's a learning process. First, you set the background. Then, you work the lights to bring out the shadows in the musculature and to highlight the dramatic points in the painting. Next, you position the camera and climb the ladder or duck low to see what the camera sees.

Finally, you get to press the button or push the lever. Really finally, you load the digital record onto your computer and go to work.

Here we see an interim point. Note the shadow remains and the bear's base hovers irregularly above the ground.

Until a few weeks ago, I would not have noted.

Until a few days ago, I would not have cared.

Now, I begin to see the difference.

Wyoming National Guard - guards grizzlies

Sergeants Mike Poole and George Weickum of the Wyoming National Guard seen here fraternizing with three of the many grizzlies that are "hibernating" at the Cody Armory before moving on to their summer habitat. Many thanks to these men and their colleagues who provided studio space for several artists and who've helped load and unload grizzlies as they've come and gone. The Cody Armory, because of their hospitality, has become the real center of "A Gathering of Grizzlies."

TROLLEY TOUR

Thanks to Mike and Margie Johnson of Cody's Trolley Tours for their generosity in donating a Cody Trolley and driver for three tours of the Grizzly Artists' studios in and around Cody. Convivial and enthusiastic groups gathered for each of the tours, making appreciative audiences for the grizzlies and their artistic creators. Each tour ended at the Rudolph studio, where Jeff used the original sculpture, the fiberglass molds, and a fiberglass model to show how the grizzly came to be and how it morphed into twenty-five clones.

Posed for the Camera

Ty Barhaug's grizzly, "This is Grizzly Country," ready for one pose, facing the camera. Photographer, Elijah Cobb, is off-stage.

Photoshoot

Elijah Cobb and Northwest College student, Nicole McCallister, prepare Ty Barhaug's bear, "This is Grizzly Country" for his formal pictures.


To do the photo shoot, Elijah set up a studio at the Wyoming National Guard's Cody Armory--the temporary home for the grizzlies. This involved moving lights, backdrops, ladders, set-ups and cameras to the Armory.

Teens and Bears

A member of the Park County teen library council and her mother admiring Pat Schermerhorn's bear, Onslow, during the Trolley Tour of artist's studios.

The flora and fauna that adorn Onslow's hide draw their inspiration from the high plains, mountains, and valleys of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, the home to the majority of the world's grizzly bears. Cunningly woven together, these many creatures—forty-four of them—speak to our love of nature and the value of their habitat. For Onslow's younger visitors, it's a challenge finding and naming the many species.

Clear Coating

Here's how it worked. The project's art director, Shirley Barhaug, "volunteered" her bear, Hiding in the Forest, to be the guinea bear.

Without clear coating, the bears could never survive a Wyoming summer outdoors -- high winds, UV rays, snow (maybe rain). So, protection was a necssity.

Rob Marshall of Marshall Auto Body Repair and Restoration of Cody (after careful testing) applied first one coat, then a second to Shirley's "Hiding." Would it work?

You be the judge. Come to Cody this summer and see "Hiding" and all of the other bears on display on the streets of Park County's three towns.

Many thanks to Rob for his skill, facilities, and help with this project. Anyone else needing his help, he's at 326 North Blackburn in Cody, telephone 527-7702.

Mosaic

Talk about "cool." This bear is "way cool," being made of bits and pieces of colored glass and stone woven together to give him patterns, shadings, and textures.

Jane Kellogg is the artist. She's a woman who has inspired others to develop both technique and an artistic eye in the ancient arts.

I first fell in love with this form at the Bardo Museum in Tunis where a wealth of mosaics, dating from pre-Roman times delight the eye. But these ancient forms are restricted to flat surfaces.

This bear is three dimensional, allowing a play of light unknown to the ancient masters.

Jane's bear will be on display at the Park County Complex in Cody during the summer of 2008. For iinformation on how you could own him, email coordinator@grizgathering.com.

Going Fishing

Bob Jacob's bear is disguised as a trout (you fishermen and women will recognize the sub-species). To my eye he looks like he's ready to go on safari, heading for Africa and the veld, dressed to run with the leopards. But that's because I'm not a fisherperson.

In fact, I'm assured, once submerged, this bear will be given away as a non-fishy specimen only by his head and his size. Hard to do anything about that.

Honey Bear

All of the whimsy inherent in the sculpture comes out in Den Barhaug's rendition of the honey bear, complete with beehive (still stuck on the stick that brought it down) and bees. The rolicking mood reflected by the cubs that carouse on mama's back.

This bear's sponsor, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, wishes to donate it to the Buffalo Bill Art Sale.

Look for him there.

Shoshone First's Big Bear

Denny and Leigh Karchner (the artist and his wife) pose with "Big Bear" in the lobby of Shoshone First Bank where Denny painted ... to the great enjoyment of the bank's customers.

Big Bear deserves his name. Not only did he prove too big to get into the bank without taking off the front doors (see blog below), but Denny painted a twilight scene on his back that shows Ursus Major--the biggest bear of all.

Big Bear was the first stop on the Trolley Tour, giving everyone a taste of what was to come. He'll be hanging out in the bank for the next week or so before leaving for his gigs with the clear coater and the photographer.

Drop by and visit with him or surf to his web page . He's a forerunner of things to come when the bears all arrive at their summer habitats.

Trolley Tours of Artists Studios

A cookie from the Robin's Nest B&B on top of "getting to find the animals" in Pat Schermerhorn's bear. What more could a young guy want?

Kids and adults, as you can see in the picture, shared the adventure.

Opinions about the bears varied from, "My favorite was the flowers and bones" (Erika Tenjack and Lana Perrotti's bear) to "There's no question. Den Barhaug's bear is the best," (his is a honey bear) to "What Jeff Rudolph's doing beats everything!"

About Jeff's bear, one trolley visitor suggested about his faux marble finish, "Why not call it the 'AlaBEARster?'"

Preferences ranged so widely among the many people who viewed the bears--some finished, some still works in progress--that soon every bear had his/her fan club.
What everyone had in common was a pleasure in the process, a feeling of the grizzly bears as something that would give pleasure for all.
Thanks to Margie and Mike Johnson for donating the trolley for the day and letting us all have the fun of riding from studio to studio and seeing the creative energies of Cody artists.

A Faithful Friend

Ol' Faithful, Sue Hammersmark's bear has become a fixture at St. John's Nursing Home in Billings where he was "created" and where he's become a favorite.

Everyone has taken a hand in dressing him for the holidays and the seasons, making him a candidate for the Best Dressed Batchelor Bear in Billings.

Here he's trying out a "spring" look.

Roadies

Before it's said and done, these bears will be among the best traveled in the nation. So far, this particular bear, Yogi, has logged some 200 miles. Here he's blanketed against the cold (and damage) preparing to start another leg of his trip on a snowy day in late March. That's me on the right, taking liberties with Yogi's nose. Ron Ogletree is on the left. Chito, the Jack Russell is in the foreground. An outcropping of Jim Mountain, part of the Southern Absarokas, is just visible through the snow. You can't see the artist, Sally Ogletree, or Lakshmi, my standard poodle and companion, who waits in the truck.

This leg of Yogi's journey takes him down to the Cody Armory where he'll be featured in the Trolley Tour.

Happy Grizzly Easter

The folks at the St. John's Nursing Home in Billings wish their resident grizzly, Ol' Faithful and his brothers, a very happy Easter.

There's no doubt but that this unique sculpture with his artistic blend of painted bronze and traditional landscape motif has captured the hearts of the St. John's residents.

Little Bears

The "little bears" have arrived at the Cody Country Art League and are ready for pick-up by the "Little Bear" artists. If you have put a deposit on one of these nine-inch models, come and get him/her--character and gender yet to be discovered. The models are not quite identical to the big guys but are close enough to fool you.

What's the deal with the small ones? They'll be painted by local artists and juried. Those not selected will be sold during the summer months. Selected little bears will be on display until October, then sold at silent auction during the Park County Library Opening. The top selling ones will win awards for their artists.

Here as an example, is the little bear painted by big bear artist, Bob Seabeck, which will go to Seabeck's sponsor, Barron Collier III.

Bank Delivery

Delivering grizzlies has been challenging. Witness the narrow, dead-end alley off 27th St. in Billings that required extraordinary driving skills. There was the deep snow on Red Lodge Mountain and the cabin with no space to turn around. Unloading was one thing, but getting truck and trailer out was another. And there was the bank.

One grizzly can tell you that it's easier for a bank robber to get into a bank than it is for a bear--especially when you're a bear that weighs in at some 250 pounds with a girth of about 4'7". Height wasn't a problem. Weight, in point of fact, wasn't either. But that girth! (Obviously, our bear wintered well after larding on the fat with plenty of grubs, fish, and assorted other delicacies.)

The fact was, he just couldn't squeeze through the doors. The Shoshone First Bank of Cody, though, isn't an institution that turns away customers. Men in suits arrived, pushing out onto the sidewalk with welcome, examining the doors with an eye toward modifications. A woman with a guitar stopped to pat our grizzly on the shoulder (her height). Patrons with normal waists and hips paused, wishing the grizzly the best. "Is he going to make it?" they wondered aloud. Perhaps their thoughts also turned toward: "why would he want to?"

A small child gawked. "What?" was his question.

Summoned, the man who installed the undersized doors arrived, passing the overlarge bear without a glance, focused on the problem of the doors. "The moldings will have to come out," he said. "The controls will need to be taken down. Then we can remove the center post and the bear can enter." His voice was assured, the problem fixable.

"But ... ."

The bear sat and watched, waiting for the rest of the sentence.

"But I don't have time to do it today. You'll have to come back tomorrow."

The bear showed no emotional response. Perhaps when his artist, Denny Karshner, completes his persona, he will. But today he went peaceably back onto the trailer to return again tomorrow.

Here's the real deal photographed near the East entrance to Yellowstone last Spring. Give it another six weeks and these monarchs of the Rocky Mountains will be up and about, as their painted contemporaries will be moving around Park County.

There's real progress on reconstructing the new library, which will become the gathering point for the painted bears and which their sale will benefit. The teen area, which will be a paticular focus for the funds we raise, is framed out. The study rooms are almost visible.

The money that will furnish those rooms will come from the grizzly project. A special thanks to those who've been hauling the fiberglass bears around: Bob and Robin Berry, Bob and Yvonne Chandler, and Cook Moving and Storage.

A Grizzly Arrival

Two artists, Robin Berry and Pat Schermerhorn help unload one of their bears. This photo appeared in The Cody Enterprise.

Pat and Robin will be working in Robin's studio, a rustic building heated by a wood stove located behind the Berrys' B&B, The Robin's Nest on Alger Avenue in Cody.

To me, these two bears look right at home in their temporary home, something you can judge for yourself on the studio tour (more on that later, although it looks like it'll be scheduled for mid-March).

Cartoons and Small Bears

Even The Cody Enterprise cartoonist has felt the spirit of bears and painting!

(Papa Bear is saying: "They're doing that painted bear thing again. sigh.")

What's new in the project: Four more big bears will be delivered to artists this week, and a person can smell paint and creativity in the air. Jane Kellogg has her glass for her mosaic bear. Her mosaic students have plans for small bears, and there is a veritable run on the paper industry as artists sketch and discard ideas for their projects.

If you want to get in on the act and do a small (9") bear, call the Cody Country Art League, 307-587-3597. It takes a $80 deposit, which the artist gets back if he/she gives us the bear to sell. Anyone who wants to keep their finished product can do so--just forfeit the deposit.

Remember small bear people, we need the small bears back by 1 May if you want your bear entered in juried competition and, potentially, photographed for the festival catalog.

What's the point? All submitted small bears will be juried with the best selected for a silent auction held in conjunction with the big bear auction. Those bears will be on display during the summer months at the Cody Country Art League. Cash prizes will be awarded to the small bears that bring the highest price in the auction.

GRIZZLIES CROSS THE BORDER

The first fiberglass grizzlies crossed the Montana-Wyoming border on 31 January, heading south to Cody. Nine bears were delivered by our great volunteers--Bob and Robin Berry and Bob and Yvonne Chandler.

Featured Artists

This space features a few artists from the project. The entries will be changed regularly, so check back frequently.

Bob Seabeck

Robert Seabeck works within a tradition of realism that has been a strong direction historically in American art. His subjects include landscapes, wildlife, flowers and vehicles. Born in Casper, Wyoming, Seabeck attended four colleges majoring in art at each. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts at California State in Long Beach and his Master of Fine Arts at the University of Wyoming in Laramie in 1976.
From 1978 to 1992, Seabeck served as an artist-in-residence for the Wyoming Arts Council, and has demonstrated painting at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody for the past eleven years. His art is displayed in a number of corporate and private collections and museums including the El Paso Museum of Art, the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming State Museum at Cheyenne, the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody.

Bob Jacob
Bob Jacob was born and raised in northeastern Oklahoma. His mother, a vocalist, pianist and china painter, provided the creative yin; his father, an accountant and fun-loving sportsman, the yang. In the early years, Bob tempted bass with a top-water plug, plunked away on the piano and learned the finer points of finessing wild ducks to a decoy spread.
He turned more of his attention to oil painting as his writing and photojournalism career began to wind down in the late ‘90s. Classes at the Art Students League of Denver were followed by regular group painting sessions at Cody Country Art League. One of the greatest influences in moving him toward spreading pigment was attending the 1997 Quick Draw at the Buffalo Bill Art Show & Sale, where he observed the late Dean St. Clair complete a one-hour gem. That piece now hangs in Bob’s historic Cody home.

Lana Perrotti


I love the act of creating and painting…the challenge and sometimes anxiety of the first mark and of filling a blank “canvas” with rich pastel pigments. When you look at these pigments they make you hungry! If you mix pastel…you get mud. You have to create layers of pigment and it gives the viewer a sense of unbelievable depth, dimension, and clarity of color. I love to play with the medium. Sometimes just making marks side by side on a good paper is insightful…the pigments are so pure its always surprising what you might come up with and what you might use in your next work



Denny Karchner

Denny has been a graphic artist since the age of thirteen, later attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Shortly after graduating, under the strong influence of Pittsburgh artist, Andy Warhol, he turned to screen printing as an art form. For the next twenty-five years, he owned and managed a large screen print operation in Pennsylvania. Later, as a "high-end" illustrator for Vanity Fair's screen printing operation in Tampa, Florida, he designed and developed graphics for the likes of the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, Nascar and Harley-Davidison. More recently, Denny has produced graphics and oils that have passed though the Buffalo Bill Historical Center Art Auctions. He has two pieces hanging permanently in the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. Another facet of Denny's art career has been the privilege of producing NFL player portraits from the 50s, 60s, and 70s for Art Rooney, Jr., the son of late, great owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is currently commissioned to paint some of the newer Steeler players for the Steeler organization.

The Sculptor

Jeffrey Burnham Rudolph's studio is set in a lot where weeds hide the bits and pieces of things that might become part of a work of art. I park my car in a clear area and look around, deciding that it would take an artist to see beauty in a bit of concrete shrouded in tumbleweeds or in a rusty stack of rebar sprouting dead sunflower centers. The building is no more promising, a squat, two-story structure that someone has punched with holes of varying sizes. Framed, they do duty as small windows, one big overhead door, and a pedestrian access. The latter was white, once, and is now marked by scuffs and dings.

Nothing hints at the pleasures for the soul hiding inside where plank stairs access a rustic balcony that rings three sides of the studio. Both stairs and balcony serve to showcase sculptures. But first, before letting the eye stray that far, it’s necessary to sort out dozens of other impressions from the jumble of objects, equipment, and sculptures in various stages of completion. On this visit, I notice a bronze rabbit I hadn’t seen before and decide, once again, that this studio contains magic. You step in and things just appear—it’s a magician’s hat sort of place.

Actually, the rabbit and everything else on view take hard work, muscle, and a great deal of knowledge to produce. The sculptor is a carpenter and metallurgist. He or she works with chemicals and composites, with rocks and clay. He must have the eye of an architect and the education of an engineer. Then and only then, it seems, does he have free scope to exercise his natural artistic talents.

Jeff, who’s a native of Cody, got his first knowledge of art in his father’s carpenter shop. It was there that he came to love the beauty of wood and discovered the satisfaction that comes from modeling a natural material. Still, he didn’t set his heart on becoming a sculptor until he took a sculpture as an elective in college. A year later he had a job in a foundry, and not long after he graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in fine arts. Since then, he’s won many awards for his work and exhibits regularly in galleries in Cody and in Golden, Colorado.


Sculpting in stone is Jeff’s admitted first love, but he enjoys other mediums. For the Grizzly Gathering project, he began with blocks of Styrofoam. These he glued together to create a cubist object of about the same size and dimension as he hoped to see the finished product. That done, he sawed off corners, rounded off edges and cut out hunks of material to give himself a sort of filled-out armature. With his basic form ready, the real work could begin. Now, using buckets of plaster, he began molding the features, sanding the dried layers, and adding more plaster.
During its creation, the great, white grizzly dominated Jeff’s studio. Sitting squarely in its center and surrounded by pots of plaster and layers of plaster dust, it focused attention on itself. Here was true magic.

On my last visit before the plaster bear left to be cloned into fiberglass, I picked my way back through the weeds to my car feeling a bit sad. I would miss the big guy. But, then, almost stumbling over some metal poles, I smiled. Some day, these bits of scrap metal would be unrecognizable. With a bit of conjuration, a dash of technical know-how, and a ton of hard work, they would emerge from the weeds, enter the studio, and become—what? Another bit of magic, of course.

The Project

Thanks to the contributions of dozens of volunteers, the financial assistance of many supporters, and the creative work of almost thirty artists, the Big Horn Basin of northwestern Wyoming will host twenty-five giant painted fiberglass grizzlies during the summer of 2008.

This project is about libraries, art, and youth, and the latter have contributed their share already, beginning with a parade entry during the 2007 Fourth of July celebrations. It will continue as they paint many small models of the large bear and submit them for a juried competition.

The best of the small bears--nine-inch models--as determined by a jury from the Cody Country Art League, will be exhibited during the summer and sold at silent auction at the same time as the large bears are auctioned. Cash awards will go to the artists whose bears bring the highest amount.

All funds raised by this project will go to the Park County Library Foundation and into an account to be used for supporting the youth and childrens libraries in Park County. What will the proceeds from this project buy? Books and audio/visual materials, smart boards and televisions, computers and MP-3 players, study carels and study rooms. We want all children in Park County to have access to the best educational materials and study environment we can provide.