Surprise, Surprise

No sooner do I write to Mike Johnson than I get a nice email back saying that Totem Teddy has been discussed by alumni recently and there may be interest now to do something about my favorite UNC tradition.. or a tradition about to be re-born. It's been seven years since I embossed the original Totem Teddy, seven years since he went back to Alaska, five years since the Ghost Memory Totem was installed in the University Center thanks to the UC crew headed up by Ronna Sanchez, Jay Dinges and with the support of Michael Johnson. It's been two years since I removed that installation and donated it to the UNC Archives.

I hope that my version of the Bear Totem, as I've proposed and attempted to donate to the university, may be given a suitable place on campus. There's no reason why more than one piece of art may be installed, is there?

Actually, in the early 2000s when I first learned that Totem Teddy would be returned to the Tlingit, I started research to make castings of the original totem in anticipation of making a duplicate. A neighbor of mine, a special effects guy, is a sculptor who does life castings. His casting would have been expensive, including air fare and accommodations in Greeley. But, we could have had an accurate cast. Now, for a replica to be made, whether by a sculptor for a bronze or by a Native Carver, many photos and measurements will be necessary. I think, for a true to tradition reproduction, I'd suggest a Tlingit artisan.

The expense for a photo realistic replica will be more expensive now than it might have been in 2003, but if there are, at last, alumni who will pony up the funds, it will be exciting to help however I can. A bronze sculptor told me in 2005 that the bronze alone for a totem 13 feet tall and about five feet in circumference would cost more than $20,000. Of course, I still want to make my donation to UNC at my own expense, as I've said here. But, I'm happy that alums are now showing an interest.

Interesting that I went from sincerely advocating a bronze or a carved totem several years ago to my own version of the direct image of the totem and now to my current abstract idea, the ReIncarnation of Totem Teddy. Of course, that was because no one wanted to do the more expensive options and I just really wanted to do something before we lost the Bear all together.

To me, the Spirit of Totem Teddy will live as long as just one person retains an interest. The challenge now is to create an atmosphere where those actually living in Greeley, students, et al, will begin to appreciate for themselves, in their own ways, the deep feelings I've had for over sixty years. For me, nostalgia is like a warm breeze that, when it wafts gently in, carries us back to feelings that are reminded of in no other way. Have we become so cynical that alma mater is soon forgotten after graduation ? I really hope not.

Michael Sheehan
CSC '63

SUMMER SOLDIER

Yesterday, Friday, I wrote again to Mike Johnson at the UNC Foundation asking to renew a dialogue regarding the Totem Project. I've complained here about the stuffed bear in the plastic box that the former VP of Alumni Affairs saw fit to accept as a gift. I've moaned about the large bronze sitting on the north side of the University Center. Of course, what we appreciate as 'art' is subjective.

I want to do the Totem Project for two reasons. The first and foremost reason is to honor the Bear Totem. The second is personal.

I've chronicled here and elsewhere my first meeting Totem Teddy in 1946 when I was in kindergarten in the Lab School (Ernest Horne Elementary in Kepner Hall.) I just liked it. I've had a special place in my heart for it ever since. Thus, as an artist, my particular way of self expression in this case turns on my memories. Their expression in the forms I've created in the past, embossing the totem in 2003, installing The Ghost Memory Totem in 2005, removing the sculpture in 2008 are now only memories. The current idea is simple and organic. It has the potential to create new traditions that new students may come around to. Respect for tradition may be a dying ember, but it is still in me to try to spark new interest.

Folks at what was, in 1914, the Colorado State Normal School, had no idea that our totem may have been of questionable origin. It was a beautiful gift from a grateful alumnus. Totem Teddy became the embodiment of the institution who adopted the Bear as its mascot.

To me the events of the early 2000's were like a family discovering a lost child who had grown up with an adopted family. Suddenly, the true parents appeared and just took the child "home." Totem Teddy may or may not have memories or even care where it lives now or lived for ninety years on the UNC campus. But, it should be an honorable thing to retain a special image just to remember and honor it... him... Totem Teddy.

Thus, all I, as a person who grew up in Greeley, ... all I want is to use my modest talents to revive a memory on the campus that has meant so much to me.

It's not a question of money. It's a question of freedom of expression and the opportunity for students, in fact, anyone who visits the campus in any capacity, to experience tradition. To me, if art is controversial, it, at least, begins a discussion. Discussions, even arguments, have the potential to be the source of new thoughts, new ideas and when we are lucky, personal growth.

Early in this blog a couple of people who did not identify themselves made terrific comments. The best one was the person who said that students "didn't have time to try to figure out 'abstract' art." To me, the most important job that a university is given the task to do is to challenge the ideas of not only the students, but every single person it may touch. Debate is healthy.

Is a challenge to the aesthetic that accepts a stuffed bear and a huge bronze, a bad thing? I hope not. Is the re-awakening of an institution to an important tradition a good thing?
I really hope so.

Michael Sheehan
CSC 1963

Totem Teddy Centennial

As I've come to understand that the wheels of any bureaucracy turn slowly and the tides of taste change at a slow pace, I'm hoping that there may be more visitors here who may support the idea of a tribute to Totem Teddy that may occur on or before his Centennial.

At least a few of you are checking in here. This is heartening.

Interested Bears, please leave a comment here if you have any inclination to help with this project to benefit our alma mater.

Thanks,
Michael Sheehan

NEXT STEPS

This is an invitation to all University of Northern Colorado Bears: students, faculty, staff, administration and alumni to pitch in with ideas for the restoration of Totem Teddy to the UNC Campus. The Centennial of his arrival on campus will happen in 2014. It is my goal to restore the totem in an artful way before that time.

Tradition has never been a big deal in Greeley, but the Bear in me is still hoping for others who may agree that neither a stuffed bear in a plastic box nor a huge squatting bronze, neither one is a true representative of our Bear Spirit.

I have offered to build the "ReIncairnation of Totem Teddy" at my own expense on the same site where the Ghost Memory Totem stood from 2005 until 2008 and the original Totem Teddy stood until his repatriation to the Tlingits of Angoon, Alaska in 2003. The Bear Totem stood proudly on the Greeley campus for almost ninety years and it is my firm belief that his memory should not be forgotten.

Alumnus, the Honorable Lynn Karowsky is responsible for the term "ReIncairnation!" Thank you, Judge Karowsky.

Please join me in my effort to restore the Spirit of Totem Teddy to the UNC campus.

Michael Sheehan
CSC Class of 1963