Artist as an advocate for nature

The Artist & The Great Bear profiles California artist Patti Jacquemain and her advocacy for wildlife through art. Using mosaic tile depictions of the extinct California grizzly bear as an iconic symbol of species loss, Jacquemain engages children and adults to think about our disappearing wildlife.

An iconic symbol of wild California, the California grizzly bear was hunted into extinction at the inception of the twentieth century. Within the artist’s unique Dome of the Great Bear, the loss of this iconic species is remembered through intricate mosaic tile imagery of the last of the grizzly bears. Her non-profit Creekspirit Foundation, is dedicated to raising awareness through art of the ongoing dilemmas of wild creatures of the west. Patti Jacquemain advocates for habitat preservation and focuses upon raising awareness of all wildlife through her art. The Artist and the Great Bear is the story of that advocacy.