Sculptor Gary Keenan used chainsaws to carve a white oak tree trunk on the UCA campus into a life-sized bear. The sculpture is located in front of Wingo Hall, welcoming visitors and students to campus.
Valor II replaces the original Valor I bear sculpture that was erected in front of Wingo Hall in the spring of 2013. Valor I was carved from one of UCA’s World War II red oak Memorial Trees that had to be cut due to disease and rot. Unfortunately, the sculpture continued to deteriorate to a point that remediation could not be done. Valor I was retired in 2017 and removed from campus to mitigate safety issues with the structure.
“Thanks to the generosity of several donors, we are able to replace the much-loved Valor with a more disease-, weather- and bug-resistant sculpture,” said President Houston Davis.
