A muralist in Winnipeg is bringing concrete bears back to life. Rachel Lancaster repainted four concrete bears that were formerly displayed on Broadway as part of a fundraiser for the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation. After its initial display, the bears are now scattered across the province. Lancaster said the original artists were hired to paint them in different ways. “They were auctioned off for charity so that all the proceeds went to CancerCare. The charity got all the money, and then they were auctioned off to various businesses,” Lancaster said in front of one of the bears at Winpak Limited. “That’s why now they are in front of a local business.” The project happened 20 years ago, and time hasn’t been kind to the bears. “The original first bear that I was asked to paint was a Blue Bomber bear. That bear was in rough condition. It needed some structural repair, like the concrete needed to be replaced and whatnot,” she said. Lancaster then repainted the bear and posted a video on her social media. The news made it to the original artist of the Blue Bomber bear, Hubert Theroux, through his daughter. “(My daughter) said, ‘Yeah, somebody restored your bears, it’s Rachel!’ and I went online and looked at her job, and I said, ‘Wow, she did a good job,’” Theroux said. “I phoned her, and she was glad that I got in touch. We had a long, pleasant conversation.” Lancaster recalled the conversation as an honour. “He thanked me for restoring his bear … I just felt honoured because originally, when all of this happened—this was 20 years ago—I was only 16. I remember walking down Broadway seeing these bears, and I thought this was something so beautiful and awesome for our city. “To be honoured 20 years later, to have the abilities to do this for everyone … I just feel very honoured.” She is hopeful to get the chance to work on more of the bears. “I’m hoping more bears (will come). Typically, what I do every day is I paint murals … I’m happy to do that, but I hope more bears are in my future as well.”
