Macon’s ‘Bear Trail’ could disappear from street corners after vandalism

For the past seven years, brightly colored bear statues have decorated Macon parks.

The public art “Bear Trail” funded through a Knight Neighborhood Challenge grant in 2011 could be relocated after recent vandalism.

Two of the six bears were ripped from their pedestals this year and are awaiting repairs at the Macon-Bibb County Parks & Recreation Department.

“We don’t have money right now to fix them,” said Julie Wilkerson, executive director of the Macon Arts Alliance.

Now Wilkerson is wondering whether the bears should be returned to their pedestals.

When “Music Bear” disappeared from Daisy Park in mid-October, a debate began as to who is responsible for maintaining the statues, Wilkerson.

The arts alliance applied for and oversaw the Knight grant, which was awarded by the Community Foundation of Central Georgia.

The county installed the bears.

Days after the trail was dedicated, Macon police charged two Mercer University students with felonies after the “Tattnall Park Bear” was removed from its base near Adams Street across from campus.

Four years later, two other Mercer students confessed to alcohol-influenced “bearnappings” of Daisy Park’s “Music Bear” and “Symphony Bear,” which was placed at the corner of College and Oglethorpe streets across from Alexander II Magnet school.

The bears were recovered near the home of university president Bill Underwood in that 2015 incident.

They were remade or repaired and remounted in the parks where they stood until recently.

“Symphony Bear” was knocked over in the spring and left near its pedestal.

“Music Bear” was returned in late October with a note affixed to its front stating: “Macon Crimes Go Away,” #BearLivesMatter and signed by “Deadpool” and “TMNT.”

Wilkerson said she is trying to determine who really owns them - Macon Arts Alliance or the county.

A sheriff’s report filed about the recent disappearance of “Music Bear” refers to felony theft by taking of government property.

She plans to come up with procedures and policies for the community’s public art displays that includes works positioned on the Ocmulgee Heritage Trail, Coleman Hill and local parks.

Messages left with the Community Foundation of Central Georgia inquiring about the future of the bears were not immediately returned.

As the Arts Alliance considers how to proceed, Wilkerson thinks it might be wiser to move the trail inside.

One of the statues, Mississippian Bear, is already located inside the Mercer University Center near Hawkins Arena.

Four of the five bears on display in local parks are standing and more susceptible to vandals toppling them over.

“Ocmulgee Bear” across from Washington Memorial Library, near the sidewalk atop Washington Park, is the only sitting bear but it shows sign of wear.

Paint at the base of the bear is chipped and there’s a hole and crack on the left side of its snout.

“If they’re fixed, maybe they can go someplace indoors safe from outside influences and vandalism,” Wilkerson said. “I don’t know their future.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2018 at 12:11 PM.