Whistler’s connection with black bears inspires many artists to paint, carve and fabricate bears in this region. Through a proposal call, Pemberton-based artist Mike Tyler designed a composition of mother bear and cub. In this case, the artist planned to create the bears using a cold cast bronze technique which involves using a bronze and epoxy resin to fashion a casting of the carving.
Originally conceived to debut in Village Square as part of the Rotating Collection series, this sculpture was located at this gateway to Village North instead. While this sculpture is durable, Village Square is a tough location for sculptures and other public art elements due to its high traffic, particularly at night. The Village Gate Park location has proven to be ideal, as people frequently take their photo with the bears and children often enjoy playing on and touching the richly-textured surface of each bear. Dogs also take note of this realistic depiction of a bear− judging from their barking.
