FILM FESTIVAL BEARS DESCEND ON MILFORD

Those famous Black Bear Film Festival bears – including one on stilts! - are taking over Milford again this year, starting with their unveiling on Saturday, August 7, at 11 am at The Old Lumberyard on Seventh Street in Milford. Some of the themes include a Picasso bear, a bear made of broken records, a guitar-playing bear, a Napoleon bear, a motorcycle biker bear, and of course, the stilt-walking bear.

Everyone is welcome to see the Painted Bear Sculptures together in one place before the creatures are set out around town later that day in front of their sponsoring businesses. (A Festival Volunteer Meeting will be held immediately after the unveiling; see end for details.)

This is the fifth year that the Painted Bears are an integral and much-loved feature of the independent film festival, which will be held October 15-17. A map of where to find the Festival bears around town will be available at the unveiling, and thereafter can be had at the Festival office at the Upper Mill or downloaded from the Festival website (www.blackbearfilm.com).

The life-sized bear sculptures begin life as 3-D fiberglass hunting targets, and the artists transform the black templates into painted sculptures. The result is a gamut of art that ranges from humorous to darling to absolutely beautiful. After being displayed around Milford for nearly three months, each Painted Bear will be auctioned at the end of the Black Bear Film Festival in October to the highest bidder, in often hotly competitive bidding that is a prime fundraiser for the Festival and its community-based educational projects.

Eleven bears were selected to honor this year’s festivities, and eight of those are being created by artists brand-new to the Festival; three artists are returning from previous years. New participants include groups from the Pocono Environmental Education Center (PEEC), the experimental NaCl (North American Cultural Laboratory) theatre, as well as elementary students from the Delaware Valley Elementary School.

Artist Carol Baker of Dingmans Ferry returns this year with "Picasso Bear," sponsored by and to be displayed in front of Altec Lansing, Rt. 6/209 in Milford. Last year, Carol chose a Native American theme with her lovely fetish-inspired "Zuni Bear." For 2004, she’s gone for the classic modernism of Picasso.

The "Amelia Bearhart" bear has been created by returning artist Dale Giambra-Currie, a Sussex County resident with a degree in fine arts from Upsala College, who last year designed the wonderfully mixed-up animal called "Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" as well as the 2002 toga-covered "Roamin Bear." Her "Amelia Bearhart" honors the world-renowned aviatrix, and is sponsored by Biondo Investment Advisors, and will be displayed in front of the Biondo Building, 221 Broad Street, Milford.

Widely admired for his inventive use of alternative materials in creating bear sculptures, jewelry designer and Dingmans Ferry resident John Kirslis introduces his "Bear That Broke All Records" for 2004. Kirslis’s previous bears include last year’s "Bear of Glass" and 2002’s slate-covered "Tabula Rasa." His fantastic new bear, comprised of broken record albums, is sponsored by and appears in front of Davis Chant Realty, 106 E. Harford Street, Milford.

Eight wonderful new artists join the Festival in 2004.

Milford Magazine editor, Krista Gromalski, along with the self-styled "Milford’s Mystery Guitar Maker," have taken rock and roll in hand to celebrate with "Bearry Garcia," clearly a tribute to the music of Jerry Garcia. "Bearry Garcia" is being sponsored by and displayed in front of Century 21/Roy B Hull, 205 E. Harford Street, Milford.

In 2003, the Pocono Environmental Education Center brought a contingent of students visiting from Russia to see the Festival’s film, Winged Migration, and were so enthralled by their first time at the Festival that PEEC decided to create a bear for this year. The result, appropriately enough, is the "Bird Watching Bear," sponsored by and to be displayed in front of Vannatta Realty & Builders, 204 E. Harford Street, Milford.

Napoleon has roots in the Milford areas, since he was a friend of the original Pinchot family who helped found the town and who commissioned a famous statue of him that can be seen at the historic Grey Towers in Milford. Artist Carol Ann Buchanan takes the diminutive soldier as her inspiration in "Napoleon Bearnaparte," which is sponsored by and will be displayed in front of Pike County Licensing, 115 W. Harford Street, Milford.

Artist Rosemarie DeVries got together with Black Bear Film Festival when her husband, Michael (Signs on Anything), designed the gorgeous film strip ironwork that hangs the Festival’s new office sign. Her leather-jacketed "Biker Bear" is a tribute to the thousands of motorcyclists who love this area. "Biker Bear" is sponsored by and displayed at S & M Management (Jess Oil), 522 Routes 6/209.

Milford residents Dr. Ralph & Carol Bowman are also new artists this year, with a fittingly cinematic tongue-in-cheek theme of "Theda Beara As Cleopatra." Sponsor Mickey Black, owner of Pine Forest Camps in Greeley, just loves the Festival and wanted to support it every way he could. The Festival is delighted to display "Theda Beara As Cleopatra" in front of the Festival office at The Upper Mill, Water treet, Milford.

Last year, artist Donna Solimando had been hard at work on a Painted Bear for the 2003 Festival, but unfortunately illness got the best of her plans. Happily, the Gold Key resident has finished her "Send In The Clowns" bear for 2004. Solimando’s "Clowns" is sponsored by and displayed in front of The Cabinet Shop Kitchens & Bath, 100 Second Street, Milford.

In a heart-warming story indeed, all the kids at the Delaware Valley Elementary Students brought in a button from home to glue onto and help decorate "Corduroy Bear." Art teacher Peggy Coniglio spearheaded the project, which was fun for all at the school. Their sponsor is The Old Lumberyard Shops, Seventh Street, Milford, where "Corduroy Bear" will be on display for both kids and adults to enjoy until the Festival in October.

And yes, last but certainly not least, a Painted Bear will be walking on stilts at this year’s Festival. The North American Cultural Laboratory (NaCl), an experimental theatre based in NYC and Sullivan County whose performers often walk on stilts and create huge puppet-like theatrics, has made the "Bear On Stilts" come to life for the 2004 Black Bear Film Festival. "Bear On Stilts" is sponsored by and displayed in front of Hotel Fauchere LLC, 401 Broad Street, Milford.

The idea of painted sculptures being placed around city streets originated in Zurich in 1998 with painted cows, and in 2000 the Painted Bears appeared in Milford for the first Black Bear Film Festival. The idea is now very popular, with painted dolphins in Key West, ponies in New Mexico, huge fish in New Orleans, Miami alligators, painted moose in Toronto, and Cincinnati’s Big Pig Gig, among many other themes.

This year’s 5th Anniversary Festival dates are Friday-Sunday, October 15-17, 2004, and there’s still time to become a Festival Sponsor; call 570.409.0909. If you’d like to join in the behind-the-scenes activities, come to the next Black Bear Film Festival Volunteer Meeting, be held immediately after the Painted Bear unveiling, on Saturday at noon, upstairs at the Milford Borough Hall on W. Catharine Street. If you cannot attend but would like to volunteer, please email the Festival or fill out the online form at www.blackbearfilm.com/sponsors/sponsorsvolunteers.html.

As always, everyone is welcome, whether newcomers or old-hands, to help pull off the fifth year's amazing celebration of film. www.blackbearfilm.com

Bear Locations (all are in Milford, PA):

Amelia Bearhart - Biondo Investment Advisors, 221 Broad Street

Bear On Stilts - Hotel Fauchere, LLC, 401 Broad Street

Bear That Broke All Records - Chant Realtors, 106 E. Harford Street

Bearry Garcia - Century21/Roy Hull, 205 E. Harford Street

Biker Bear - S & M Management (Jess Oil), 522 Rt. 6 & 209

Bird Watching Bear - Vannatta Realty, 204 E. Harford Street

Corduroy Bear - Old Lumberyard Shops, Seventh Street

Napoleon Bearnaparte - Pike County Licensing, 115 W. Harford Street

Picasso Bear - Altec Lansing, Rt. 6 & 209

Send In The Clowns - The Cabinet Shop Kitchens & Baths, 100 Second Street (near Harford)

Theda Beara As Cleopatra – Black Bear Film Festival Office, The Upper Mill, Mill Street (sponsored by Mickey Black, Pine Forest Camps, Jenkintown, PA)

Photo Captions:

Individual Bear picture, at top:
Photo caption: Last year, "Lions, Tigers & Bears, Oh My" by artist Dale Giambra-Currie was one of the amusing Painted Bear Sculptures auctioned at the Black Bear Film Festival. Eleven new Painted Bears, including a new one by Giambra-Currie, will be unveiled on August 7th, at 11 am in the Old Lumberyard in Milford. Festival Dates are October 15-17, 2004. Photo by judywhite/Black Bear Film Festival

Photo at Old Lumberyard:
Photo caption: Fascinated children attend the unveiling of last year’s Black Bear Film Festival Painted Bears at The Old Lumberyard Shops. This year, 11 new sculptures, including one on stilts, will be launched on Saturday, August 7, at The Lumberyard at 11am. The bears will be auctioned at the end of the Festival, October 15-17, 2004. Photo by judywhite/Black Bear Film Festival

Picture outside Milford Theatre:
Photo caption: Last year’s Painted Bears outside the Milford Theatre during the 2003 Black Bear Film Festival. This year, 11 sculptures, including one on stilts, will be auctioned at the end of the Festival, October 15-17, 2004. Photo by judywhite/Black Bear Film Festival

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Download images at http://www.blackbearfilm.com/press/pressimages.html