Artist Nick Bibby has created a 10-foot bronze Kodiak bear installed on Ittleson Quadrangle Monday morning, Oct. 28.
Brown is adding a new “thing” to our campus. Courtney Coelho’s article, “Brown to install ‘Indomitable’ bear,” shares the installation schedule for this “latest public art incarnation of Brown’s bear mascot”: http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2013/10/bear
And Coelho’s follow-up article on the statue’s installation on October 28th gives some background on the choice of artist and location, as well as on the history behind the Brown mascot. According to the Encyclopedia Brunoniana, Theodore Francis Greene, Class of 1887, was the primary advocate for adoption of the bear as Brown’s mascot in 1904. The article quotes a relevant passage from the Encyclopedia about choosing this mascot:
“While it may be somewhat unsociable and uncouth, it is good natured and clean. While courageous and ready to fight, it does not look for trouble for its own sake, nor is it bloodthirsty. It is not one of a herd, but acts independently. It is intelligent and capable of being educated.”
“Indomitable” is 14 feet tall, and according to Coelho, is “reportedly the largest bronze sculpture of a bear ever made in Britain”!