Wanted: bear decorators

MILFORD, PA — The Black Bear Film Festival seeks artists to create the painted bear sculptures that will grace the streets of Milford for several months before this year’s festival, to be held October 11-14. Applicants are asked to submit sketches, with a deadline of Monday, May 14. Concept sketches will be voted on by a design committee in late May, and the unpainted bear sculptures will be provided to the selected artists in early June, to be completed by July 31. On August 12, the completed sculptures will be unveiled and placed around the Milford area in front of sponsoring businesses.

Artists receive $50 toward the costs of materials; bears become the property of the festival for auction purposes.

Artists whose concepts are accepted will transform the creatures into painted and decorated sculptures. From whimsy to funny to outrageous to beautiful, the painted bears are a highlight of each year’s festival, and are auctioned at the end of the festival to the highest bidder in an often hotly competitive bidding that is a prime fundraiser for the event.

“The painted bears are an exciting aspect of the film festival, and draw loads of visitors to the area,” said Black Bear executive director Nancy Pitcher. “As soon as the decorated bears are placed at our sponsor locations, visitors come to snap photos of the sculptures. People often stop by the festival office to pick up a painted bear map and do the whole tour.”

This marks the eighth year that the Painted Bears will roam the streets of Milford in honor of the independent film festival. The idea of painted sculptures being placed around city streets originated in Zurich in 1998 with painted cows, and more cows soon popped up in Chicago and New York City. In 2000, the Painted Bears first appeared in Milford for the Black Bear Film Festival, and the idea has spread throughout the country, with decorated dolphins in Delaware, painted ponies in New Mexico, giant fish in New Orleans, alligators in Miami, painted moose in Toronto and the “Big Pig Gig” in Cincinnati, just to name a few.

Examples of past year’s designs can be seen on the festival’s website at BlackBearFilm.com (click on “Painted Bear and Silent Auctions”).

For more information email info@blackbearfilm.com or call 570-409-0909.