The story behind Ursa Gaia

Deep in 2020 pandemic lockdowns, I was doing yoga on the back porch when my husband came home from an outdoor meeting in our neighborhood, Greenmont. He said our neighborhood architectural and remodeling guru, historian, preservationist, and all-around fascinating character, was looking for someone to repaint a giant bear statue on one of her properties near our house. He suggested me, since I like art.

I thought, “Huh, that might be fun.” As I continued to do yoga, I rose up into warrior pose and an idea suddenly came. I’d make it a ~feminist climate space bear~ to draw attention to the things I care about, bring my community together in a shared art creation and learning project, and maybe even have some fun.

The next day, I was telling my mom about the idea over the phone, and she got it right away. She said, “Oh! You could call it Ursa or something, for the bear and space connection to Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.” I liked that and added: “Yeah! Oh wait, I read that book Earth in Human Hands with my WVU Climate Conversations seminar students that mentioned the Gaia Hypothesis….”

Gaia is a Greek word for Earth. The Gaia Hypothesis describes Earth as a living system, implying relationships between the living and nonliving parts of Earth, such that the whole organism sustains and perpetuates itself. 

I thought a good name for this bear sculpture could be Ursa Gaia! I brought up the idea with our Greenmont guru, and she connected me with Morgantown Art Party, who connected me with other artists around town to contribute, so the project became a collaboration. 

I painted the inaugural monarch image on the bear’s forehead. Other artists joined in, the local newspaper did a story about it, and I got to regularly watch members of my community walk and bike past it and wonder and smile. The resulting compilation of paintings by Morgantown artists can be found on the Ursa Gaia Facebook Page.

In 2021, when we realized we were moving to Huntsville, I knew I wanted, needed, to continue to do art. My friend at Morgantown Art Party okayed my adopting the Ursa Gaia moniker for my art, and I set up my Ursa Gaia website and instagram. It felt like a huge statement, an investment in my creative side, a reclaiming of some lost part of myself. I had the watercolor framed with a pink border and bright gold frame, and I hung it in the middle of my office, so it’s always right in front of me.

What could we save, what could we create, if we embodied our full selves and found our unique role in the living Earth system?