Bears had different themes painted on them at Bearfootin’ Art Walk in downtown Hendersonville.
We end the display of bears with one painted with a bridge and a sign that reads, “No longer on my side, we will meet at the Rainbow Bridge.”
Bridge Painted on a Bear
Bearfootin’ Public Art Walk is a whimsical, playful public art display, with the much-loved Bearfootin’ bears of Downtown Hendersonville.
Here are three bears: one with a wolf-themed shawl, another with bright yellow designs, and the last with an abstract painting.
Wolf-themed Shawl on a Black Bear
Bear with Bright Yellow Designs
Abstractly Painted Bear
The Bearfootin’ Art Walk Bears, in Hendersonville, North Carolina, arrive as blank slates before local artists transform each into a spectacular fashion, with creative themes. A colorful “Spark and Burst” piece with mommy and baby bear sitting on Main Street.
Mother and Baby Bears
Since 2003, the Bearfootin’ Art Walk has helped raise funding for Downtown Hendersonville and a variety of local non-profits.
Here are painted bears standing on the platforms along Main Street.
Standing Tall Bear
A Tall Bear
In downtown Hendersonville, 20 works of bear art are displayed during the Annual Bearfootin’ Art Walk program. Here are some with artsy, colorful designs of flowers and leaves.
Bear with Flowers and Greenery
Bear with Flower Designs
Bear with Leaves and Flower Designs
Flowery Bear
The painted bear that lines up on Hendersonville’s Main Street at the opening presentation of the Bearfootin’ Art Walk and Auction. The bears, each designed and decorated by a different local artist, stand on the street corners of downtown until October, when they’ll go to the highest bidder in a month-long silent auction.
Colorful Bear
Hendersonville, NC, is home to a Public Art Walk called “Bearfootin’ on Main.” There are usually about 20 bears total each year, and each one gets painted by local artists for great causes. Three styles of bears adorn Main Street each year (a bear on all fours, a mama and baby bear, and a standing bear).
Sky-themed Bear
Mother and Daughter Bears
Bear Carrying Apples
Bearfootin’ Public Art Walk is a whimsical, playful public art display, with the much-loved Bearfootin’ bears of Downtown Hendersonville. Decorated bears are along the sidewalks of Main Street from May to October, when they are auctioned off. Each year, a new set of bears lines the street. The proceeds from each bear benefit a local non-profit organization.
American SongBear
American SongBear Sign
At 25 years old at the North Carolina Zoo, Anana is considered “geriatric” for a polar bear, with wild polar bears typically living 15-18 years. Zookeepers noted that Anana loved roaming around her expansive habitat.
Anana Yawning
Anana Looking at You
Anana, a female polar bear, is a resident of the North Carolina Zoo. She arrived in 2014 from Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and was known by her keepers as a “princess.” As of February 2025, Anana was the only polar bear at the North Carolina Zoo, and she is still thriving.
Polar Bear Anana
In addition to the Magic Wings Butterfly House, we saw this black bear resting at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC.
It was interesting see beehives clinging to the rocks in Bera, Rajasthan. The bees make hives on the underside of rock ledges to protect honey from sloth bears that roam the hills.
Due to an abundance of wildlife around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, it was common to see use of animal related tourist attractions and icons in the town.
The four elk antler arches guarding the corners of Jackson Hole’s George Washington Memorial Park, more commonly called the Town Square, have become well known icons to the town’s many visitors. A local whitewater rafting and kayaking operator uses bears to attract customers.
While bears are sighted in Spring and Summer in Yellowstone, we saw only two, and that too from very far for even a 300mm lens to capture.
An American Black Bear spotted on the side of a road in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
Among its varied collection of sculptures at Brookgreen Gardens, there are quite a few of animals.
“Lioness and Cub” by Hope Yandell – A female lion with her young cub. The lioness is standing, front left paw raised slightly. Her head is turned in the direction of her cub. They are positioned in a natural setting on a rock formation over a small pool.
Prowling in the Jungle
“Brown Bears” by Anna Hyatt Huntington is a bronze sculpture of a group of three bears
Brown Bears
Kites designed as colorful bears and fish fly in the air at the International Kite Festival in Vadodara, India on January 8, 2020
Flying Bears
A Fish in the Sky
What a creative display of a bear feasting on salmon at the Chinese Lantern Festival in Belmont, North Carolina!
Chinese Lantern Festival – Bear Feasting on Salmon