Ursa and Her Minors

This mural was created in 2018 on the corner of Associated Bank in downtown Wittenberg by Alicia Rheal from Madison, WI.

The Bear Process...

In 2016, I was asked to come up with some concept ideas for the Associated Bank in Wittenberg. They didn’t have a specific topic in mind. I had been wanting to do a large scale animal mural for quite a long time, and this project seemed like a perfect fit for that.

I came up with 3 options...1) an eagle flying out of a frame, 2) a bull
breaking through the wall, and 3) Mama bear and her escaped cubs.
Fortunately, they chose my favorite of the 3!

The wall was measured, 17’x 27’ plus 4’ around the corner, and I started drawing out the pattern for the frame. I made a stencil for the gold section, and relied on my reference photos for the bears and nature scene. Once we were ready to paint, we measured off the wall, snapped lines, and gridded out the Bear scene.

5 tiers of scaffolding
1 lift for the baby bears
6 artists, from the Madison area (on and off for 11 days)

Black bears are residents in the Wittenberg area. As we were painting, folks would share their stories of Bear sightings!