Local non-profits raise $100,000 

By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

Over 400 people came to the Lippincott Van Lines warehouse in Winsted on Saturday, November 10 to view the auction of 49 painted bear sculptures created for A Bear Affair, a public art project for the benefit of the northwestern corner of Connecticut.

Artist Claudia Lefchek with her bear, Black Beary Patch.

Five local non-profit organizations will evenly split the $100,000 raised at the auction: Winsted Health Center, Litchfield County Association for Retarded Citizens (LARC), Northwest Connecticut Arts Council, Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and the Tri-State Chamber Foundation.

Bidders paid anywhere between $350 and $16,500 for the individual bears, which ranged in size and shape from a small, three foot high standing bear to a giant, five feet high by six and a half foot long grizzly. Eric Forstmann’s Bear’s Eye View brought in the biggest donation of $16,500. Forstmann, a 45-year-old artist from Sharon, used his bear to depict the east to south view from Bear Mountain, Connecticut’s tallest peak.

A little less than half of the 87 bear sculptures were bought back by their sponsors prior to the auction, including two of the five Norfolk artists’ bears, Karen Rossi’s Norfolk Bear and Claudia Lefchek’s Black Beary Patch. Lefchek’s bear was bought back by Lefchek’s employer, Sullivan Senior Center and will remain at that location in the south end of Torrington.

Rossi’s bear was purchased by Frank Bell and donated to the town. Norfolk Bear will spend the winter in the children’s room at the library and is up for grabs in the spring. Bell said, “I hope Norfolk Bear will end up spending time in a lot of different locations in Norfolk. People in town should feel free to borrow the bear for various events and make suggestions as to where it should be displayed.”

The three other bears created by Norfolk artists were auctioned off on November 10: Arden Mason’s Ursus, John Thew’s Bearback Rider and Turi Rostad’s Coat of Many Colors.

Larry Hannafin, a member of the A Bear Affair committee, said “We felt it was a very successful evening and everyone on the committee was pleased with the results. We hoped to raise between $20,000 and $25,000 for each organization and we did just that.”

Photo courtesy of Claudia Lefchek.