FIRST STATUE IN PARK SIGNIFIES BEAR MARKET.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

VALENCIA - It'll be a bear of a task today when the city installs the first of six life-size grizzly sculptures commissioned as part of a public art project.

The ``Heritage Bear,'' an ursine fiberglass statue decorated with photographs of Santa Clarita's past and present, will be set on its foundation at the new Valencia Heritage Park, 24155 Newhall Ranch Road.

``It is the first Art in Public Places statue ever produced in the city of Santa Clarita,'' said Michael Marks, the city's arts and events supervisor. ``It enhances our visual surroundings and helps promote creativity when you're seeing something unusual in your immediate surroundings.''

The piece is part of the California Bear Project organized in August by the city's Art in Public Places Program. Local artists were recruited to decorate bear sculptures - reproductions of the largest grizzly ever spotted in California.

According to local lore, the 10-foot-tall beast, nicknamed ``Monarch of the Mountains,'' was shot and killed in 1877 in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Each commission costs about $3,000.

``People have used cows, angels,'' Marks said. ``We did a little research what kind of animal represented Santa Clarita.''

Local photographer Scott Groller was selected from several artists who submitted concepts for the Heritage Bear. He depicted the area's rich history in two-tone - the left side of the sculpture will be covered with sepia photographs of local landmarks, family pictures and places long gone, and the right side will feature vibrant color shots of the city today.

``The pictures tell a story about Santa Clarita in the past and today,'' Marks said. ``Every person will have a different point of view from looking at the bear.''

Groller has amassed about 700 images, including one maintained by the local historical society and some obscure archives found on the Internet. Each photograph is printed on a white linen-like fabric, soaked in an artist's gloss medium, then attached to the white acrylic bear.

A second bear will be delivered to Golden Valley High School to be decorated by students. The campus mascot is the grizzly.

Valencia Heritage Park, a 17-acre recreation center on McBean Parkway and Newhall Ranch Road, contains a section of the city's river trail, which runs along San Francisquito Creek. Both the bear sculpture and the park will be dedicated in a ceremony April 16.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com