It looks like the most familiar bear in Lyons is taking an early 2020 hibernation. Ursa Major, the more-than life-size bear gracing the front of Western Stars Gallery & Studio on Main Street was moved out of town on September 18.
One could say that Lyons helped her find a new home, by exposing her to millions of people travelling through Lyons since June 2018. The bear was forklifted, and put in a flatbed and taken to her new home in downtown Longmont. She will preside in the 300 block of Main Street, near one of the pass-through access arcades.
The sculpture is part of the ongoing heARTS of LYONS Outdoor Arts Collection. The Lyons Arts & Humanities Commission describes it as “a perennial celebration of art and sculpture displayed outdoors throughout the quaint mountain town of Lyons, Colorado.” The program either gives the artist a commission for temporarily displaying their piece in downtown Lyons, or outright purchases the piece. You can be part of this program by donating to the Commission.
Parker McDonald’s Sculpture, Ursa Major, is hollow and made from rust-colored Cor-ten steel. McDonald, of Loveland, was paid a $700 stipend for his sculpture’s two-year placement by Western Stars. It was the first LAHC arts-partner sponsorship in the ever-expanding heARTS of LYONS program.
If you want to see more of his art, McDonald will soon be delivering a new 72” stainless and Cor-ten steel piece, consigned for sale at Western Stars, entitled “Quiet Night.”
