Big Blue Bear.(STRESS RELIEF)

Advanced Materials & Processes, October, 2005

This 42-foot tall bear is shown peering into the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. Bearing the title "I See What You Mean," the sculpture was designed by Colorado artist Philip Argent. The bear weighs 10,000 pounds, and is made of a fiber-rein-forced polymer composite that was sprayed with a top coat of blue-pigmented polymer concrete.

The story of how the Blue Bear was designed and built is a fascinating one, and details of the materials and the fabrication process may be found in "Composite Sculpture Bears a Second Look," on p. 40 of the August 2005 issue of Composites Technology. Web site: www.compositesworld.com. Image courtesy Denver Office of Cultural Affairs. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]