While fans eagerly await the return of Nora, another bear has quietly taken up residence at the Oregon Zoo’s expansive new Polar Passage habitat.
“Melting Ice Bear,” a 9-foot-tall cast aluminum sculpture by Veronica and Edwin Dam de Nogales, was lifted into place outside the habitat’s Arctic Science Center in late February and has been making a big impression on visitors ever since.
“The ice bear is one with the ice,” the artists explained in a statement. “Without the ice, the bear will cease to be.”
On the opposite side of Polar Passage, a pair of complementary polar bear sculptures, also by Dam de Nogales, forms playful benches for visitor seating.
Oregon’s Percent for Art legislation ensures a portion of all eligible publicly funded construction projects is spent on public artwork, and that includes work funded by the community-supported zoo bond measure passed in 2008.
Some of Polar Passage’s features were funded through the Oregon Zoo Foundation’s $8.5 million Heart of the Oregon Zoo campaign, which supports zoo’s animal welfare, conservation and education efforts. To learn more or to make a gift, call 503-220-2493 or email foundation@oregonzoo.org.
As part of the Metro family, the Oregon Zoo helps make greater Portland a great place to call home. Committed to conservation, the zoo is currently working to save endangered California condors, Oregon silverspot and Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies, western pond turtles and northern leopard frogs.
Support from the Oregon Zoo Foundation enhances and expands the zoo’s efforts in conservation, education and animal welfare. Members, donors and
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