Moving forward

I’ve just learned that the monumental sculpture, Northern Vision, sculpted by Loveland artist, Dawn Weimer, which stands outside the University Center was purchased by donations, evidently from alumni and others, for about $120,000.00. Smaller versions of the sculpture are available for purchase. The big guy stands twelve feet tall. It’s a Grizzly. Over time, it seems that the bear totem, a brown bear native to Alaska… and to Colorado, has morphed into a more formidable critter.

I’m discovering things about art and about tradition that I don’t necessarily like much. Art is always political. Sometimes it’s innocuous decoration and the only political statement that it makes is about the person who supports it or displays it over his sofa. Other art, especially the stuff for public consumption like The Vietnam War Memorial, sometimes becomes highly political. For instance, the statement that Maya Lin makes literally reflects those of us left behind. When one visits the wall, there are the names of all of those who died for a cause. Reflected there in the polished stone stand those who did not die who have come to pay respects. Initially, Maya Lin’s idea caused a bit of an uproar with those who thought that monumental bronzes like the Marine Corps Memorial, the flag raising on Iwo Jima, are more proper to memorialize war heroes.

What I’m learning is that it’s possible that college kids today are so occupied or pre-occupied with personal activities, classes, tests, social functions, that the territory of tradition is one they may either have just never considered or, maybe, just don’t have time for. There is, after all, only so much time. Education, of course, should top the list of reasons for attending university. So, I have to ask myself some questions. Why be so concerned for this special tradition? Why care? Why make an effort to awaken folks who may really just not want to be bothered?

That sounds a little defensive and harsh. My efforts may be perceived as so outlandish that in order to keep my own intentions focused, I have to be a little selfish? Of course, my love of the Bear Totem and my history with it probably trump most others. Thus, because it’s so very important to me, I really have to maintain my enthusiasm. If I don’t, I’m afraid that no one else will.

Not to compare myself to Maya Lin, but what if the negative voices who almost shouted down her Vietnam Wall had prevailed and the tribute to over 58,000 fallen men and women who served all those years ago was relegated to the more traditional bronze that heroically depicts just one moment from the horror of that war?

Totem Teddy is not a battle cry. His arrival on campus in 1914, inspiring legions of students, back in the day when college was a very different experience. He made a difference that art is supposed to make. Those kids in the nineteen tens and twenties took the totem as their symbol: their mascot, never suspecting the spiritual connotations we learned about only recently… they just wanted to have a mascot… and to have some fun!

The photo of the coed climbing up the totem on the montage in the UC is testament to that. Politically incorrect these days, Totem Teddy was part of the fun back then. The Teachers became The Bears!

Times change. The $120,000.00 Northern Vision sculpture that graces campus now, perhaps, is the image and the mascot that reflects UNC in the 21st Century? I really mustn't take issue with that. It’s the way things are. Things change with the times. Did the student body have a say in the acquisition of that bronze? I wonder.

Do I want to bring back the old days? Yes! I don’t expect the kids of 2008 to truly understand the days of Father Knows Best or Leave it to Beaver. It must be difficult to imagine such simple times. But, as the Bear Totem was the inspiration for renaming the school mascot, (and, selfishly, my inspiration), I do hope that finding ways to always remember Totem Teddy will never be abandoned. And, No… I don’t expect the students of the 21st Century to do it the old fashioned way. Thus, I’m hoping that new ideas will embody the spirit of the tradition, whether they are built on mine or not.

When I made the embossing of the original totem, in 2003, I wanted to capture the Spirit of the Bear. I believe that there are subtle energies in the universe that we may tap into. This old totem held energies that I personally experienced from the age of five. It has always meant something to me in my heart. My experience is probably unique. Maybe I’m like Linus with his blanket? I just don’t want to let go of this special icon that has always made me feel connected: connected to Greeley, the campus, my youth. And, so, the simplicity of my idea to raise a cairn that would simply be a temporary tribute to the memory of Totem Teddy sticks with me.

It’s the idea. It’s the simple idea that we can continue a tradition and by so doing invest a special part of ourselves and a portion of our communal spirit in an ephemeral symbol that we tuck away in memory.

Yes.. I wax nostalgic. Greeley and UNC hold many memories for me that will never fade, even as the face of the campus evolves. Even as Greeley grows. Maybe it’s just nostalgia that I want to keep alive. I really hope that I can find a few simpatico folks who understand this notion of tradition… nostalgia? who may come along and support keeping the dream of Totem Teddy alive.