"Pops" Finds Forever Home at State Theatre

by Jane Stahl

“Pops,” the latest addition to Boyertown’s public art project Bear Fever, has "been around" and has a great story to tell.

Unlike over 90+ of his fellow sculptures, “Pops” didn’t come to Boyertown on a semi-trailer truck from Chicago in pristine condition, carefully wrapped in protective foam.

Instead, “Pops” was discovered by Shannon and Ken Shaw at Acme Antiques in Deltaville, Virginia, during their camping trip.

“We had stopped for ice cream in Tappahannock, a nearby town. When I saw him, it took me a moment to recognize him as one of the bears in Boyertown's Bear Fever project,” Shannon explains. “We didn’t bring him home with us then,” she continues, “but I couldn’t stop thinking about him; and so, I called Acme back to see if it was still for sale. Happily, he was, and so we went back and brought him home. 

"But he was a mess!” Shannon shares that she spent hours over the last year sanding him with an electric sander to get him cleaned up before handing him over to fine artist Deborah Meehan. “It took us a year to get him into shape!"

We gave Deb carte blanche to design and paint him,” Shannon offers; “we love the vision she had for him. Perhaps people will say ‘hi’ to ‘Pops’ before entering the theatre, smell the popcorn when they come in, and order some to take to their seat to enjoy while watching the movie!”

Left to right: artist Deborah Meehan, State Theatre manager Shannon Shaw and installer Ken Shaw.

Deb explains that her vision for “Pops” seemed obvious. “Popcorn has always been enjoyed at the movies, and the ‘pop’ of red is always attractive!” The tough part for her was to create “straight lines” of red on the curved bear’s body to resemble the iconic container that folks associate with theatre popcorn. His popcorn neck scarf and the heart on his chest were inspired touches. My guess is that he’ll develop his own fan base quickly!

“’Pops’ has a storied history. Photos of the base on which the bear sat gave us a few clues about where the bear originated,” explains Shannon.

Shannon researched "Pops" origin. “I learned that 'Pops' was originally part of the 2006 'Beach Bears' project sponsored by Michigan’s Old St. Joseph’s Neighborhood Preservation Society. The platform that the bear was on, and a plaque that identified it, along with a "Beach Bears" symbol with the town it was originally from, provided clues.

Marian the Li-Bear-ian was her name then, sponsored by Maud Preston Palenske Library.

Marian was #16 on the map of the collection. https://www.stjosephpublicart.com/view-the-figures/2006-beach-bears-map

The Old St. Joseph's Neighborhood Preservation Society did different sculptures every year until 2018. The "figures" were sold at auction at the end of the year that they were displayed. “Pops”—then Marian--somehow ended up in Virginia 17 years later in need of repair.

“Check out the other 'figures' in the links to see what other street art they did each year. It's honestly amazing!” urges Shannon.

“I Googled information to find the link above, which led to additional investigation to see what the bear actually looked like, and I believe at that point I stalked the sponsoring library's Facebook page all the way back to 2006 to find the picture of what it originally looked like.”

"Marian… Madame Li-bear-ian Bear" refers to the novel Bear by Canadian author Marian Engel, where the main character, Lou, is a young librarian who develops a complex relationship with a bear while isolated in a remote location, essentially becoming a "madam" to the wild animal; the "bear" part directly refers to the animal itself in the story.

Also "Marian the Librarian" is a song and a character from the musical The Music Man. The song is about the love interest of the musical's main character, Harold Hill, who is a traveling salesman and con man.

Details regarding the purchase of “Marian” at the year’s-end auction in 2006 are unknown, but somehow the sculpture ended up in Virginia and has finally found his home at Boyertown's State Theatre.

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