Paws for Enjoyable | Bridgewater State University

Each of the painted bear statues on Bridgewater State University’s campus has an intriguing origin story. The latest bear in entrance of the Welcome Center isn’t any exception; its story begins on a subway automobile.

At 16, Forrest Bailey, ’26, was visiting Boston and using the Green Line when a person seen and commented on the hat Forrest was carrying.

“We got to chatting after he said he liked my beanie,” Forrest stated. “He told me his name was Fred Clark, and he was the president of BSU. When he learned I wanted to study art, he said they have a great art program there.”

Forrest wasn’t actually fascinated about school simply but however thanked Clark for his enter.

After graduating highschool in 2019, Forrest attended group school of their native Maine. When COVID hit, Forrest struggled and determined to take day off from faculty and entered the workforce.

A pair years later, the thought of returning to high school surfaced and that’s when Forrest remembered the person on the practice.

“It simply type of popped into my head. ‘What was that college that guy on the train told me about? I looked it up and thought it sounded great,” they said.

That chance encounter with President Frederick W. Clark Jr is how Forrest ended up studying art at Bridgewater State University.

“My experience at BSU has been incredibly positive. I love all of my professors, particularly Professor Sarah Washburn. I took her drawing class one semester and since then she’s been such a giant supporter of me,” Forrest stated.

It was Washburn who inspired Forrest to submit a proposal for an open name to design one of many iconic bear statues on campus.

“I really wanted to create a piece of public art, something people could see,” Forrest stated.

They then met with BSU’s Jay Block, affiliate director of collections and exhibition supervisor, who curates and approves public artwork on the college.

“I had a lot of concepts, and admittedly overdesigned some of them,” Forrest stated. “But I had this one idea that was stuck in my brain…a pink gummy bear.”

On a whim, Forrest drew up their idea and offered it to Block, who finally determined that it could be a enjoyable, colourful design for the bear statue that sits in entrance of the college’s Welcome Center.

The bear was shipped to Forrest’s residence in Biddeford, Maine, the place they labored on all of it summer season. The result’s a scorching pink bear that creates an phantasm of translucency.

“There are lots of shapes that look like liquid, I really wanted to create a sense of motion, of jelly jiggling around while the bear is walking,” Forrest stated.

Forrest must wait to see the bear put in on campus as they are going to be finding out overseas in Ireland this semester. But, for those who do move by and consider the bear, Forrest hopes the response is joyful.

“I want to make people smile, to brighten someone’s day by seeing this fun, whimsical, silly piece of art,” Forrest stated.

Overall, the challenge has helped Forrest decide what sort of artwork they need to produce.

“With the current state of the world, I want to create art that is a distraction…that injects fun and happiness into people’s lives,” they stated. “I’m grateful to have had this experience and really hope this helps open doors for me to more opportunities where I can create public art.”

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