{"id":279447,"date":"2025-11-13T02:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/279447\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T02:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T02:16:10","slug":"it-fuels-imagination-bearbraham-lincoln-sculpture-unveiled-in-north-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/279447\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It fuels imagination:’ Bearbraham Lincoln sculpture unveiled in North York"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Eglinton and Don Mills, a 10-metre-tall female grizzly \u2013 dubbed \u2018Bearbraham Lincoln\u2019 \u2013 now watches over a changing neighbourhood \u2013 a bronze symbol of leadership, care, and quiet strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually an exact replica of the Lincoln monument in size and scale,\u201d said artist Dean Drever. \u201cThat always inspired me as a kid, just the awe of it. So, putting a bear in that giant chair, especially in front of a park where kids will play, I love that. It fuels imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The piece is called Seated Bear and Friends, was created through Toronto\u2019s Percent for Public Art Program<\/a>, which requires developers to fund art in public spaces.\u00a0Commissioned by Aspen Ridge Homes, the cost of the installation is expected at roughly $3 million due to the ballooning cost of labour and materials. It\u2019s built using 3D printing and casting technology that transformed thousands of foam blocks into bronze before being assembled on-site.<\/p>\n

\"\"The sculpture Seated Bear and Friends \u2013 which has been dubbed \u2018Bearbraham Lincoln\u2019 by some \u2013 is seen at Eglinton Avenue and Don Mills. CITYNEWS<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important for public art as an aspect of animating the public realm, really creating a sense of community, especially in these new development sites where thousands of residents and retailers will soon move in,\u201d said Andrea Mantin, project manager of Public Art with the City of Toronto. \u201cThese pieces help ground a site and create identity for the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Drever, that sense of community and the chance to build something lasting are what make the long hours and heavy lifting worthwhile.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst and foremost, I feel extremely lucky to work on something of this scale. When you\u2019re actually in it, it\u2019s pretty easy to lose sight of what you\u2019re doing. Actually, you get fairly focused on what you\u2019re doing. I finished it about a week ago, and I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s fully hit me what it means. I\u2019ve been at it for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sculpture will be officially unveiled when Big Bear Park opens later this month, welcoming residents and visitors to explore the site for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Eglinton and Don Mills, a 10-metre-tall female grizzly \u2013 dubbed \u2018Bearbraham Lincoln\u2019 \u2013 now watches over a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-279447","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}