Chasing "The Bear"

CHASING “THE BEAR” “This bear sculpture is not about a black bear. It’s about a chance encounter with the spirit of The Berkshire Bear. I hope it inspires students to be driven, courageous, and more importantly, open and curious—and to be irrepressible.”

—Mark Richardson ’73, Artist

Photo by Gregory Cherin Photography

80

Berkshire Bulletin

Summer 2019

81

Alumni Spotlight

Alumni Spotlight

BILL DRAKE ’73: DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE BEAR

MARK RICHARDSON ’73: PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST

“As I make eye contact with Mark Richardson’s fine art sculpture and reach out to touch the bear’s extended arm, I’m struck with a deep feeling of connection to the power and grace that is epitomized by our mascot and by the timeless tribute to the enduring spirit of Berkshire School as exemplified by Arthur C. Chase.”

“If you think about this sculpture in the context of a team, I created the sculpture but could by no means have done this solely on my own. So many very talented artisans from the foundry have worked on it. Alumni in the League of Bears, many at Berkshire School, and that wider community have all influenced this. My guess is at least 100 hands have touched it—plus my two, of course.”

—Bill Drake ’73, League of Bears Chair

—Mark Richardson ’73, Artist Photo courtesy of Mark Richardson ‘73

Photo by Gregory Cherin Photography

It was with great sadness that the Berkshire community learned of the passing of Bill Drake ’73 on July 16, just weeks after the Dedication of the Bear Tribute Sculpture. His longstanding commitment to and leadership of the project stands as a testament to his fierce perseverance, another enduring attribute of the Berkshire spirit.

Fourteen years ago, the Class of ’73 bid farewell to another classmate, celebrated photographer Sing-Si Schwartz ’73.

Moved to honor Schwartz, Drake envisioned an “iconic monument to Berkshire’s mascot namesake, ‘The Bear’ Arthur C. Chase.” From 1938 to his retirement in 1973, Chase held roles of English and Latin teacher, trail squad leader, Sugar House founder, and assistant to the headmaster. Much like Schwartz, Drake felt that Chase

embodied the Berkshire spirit.

Drake’s vision was well received by classmates (who would later form the League of Bears), and in 2010, he connected with sculptor Harold Clayton ’73. Sadly, Clayton passed away in 2015 before he could engage with the project.

Drake then turned to artist Mark Richardson ’73 to help the League create a sculpture that would signify Chase’s strength and grace. With guidance and input from Head of School Pieter Mulder, Art Department Chair Paul Banevicius, Director of Advancement Andrew Bogardus, Director of Facilities Management Tim Fulco, and Director of Communications and Marketing Carol Visnapuu, the sculpture progressed.

The Arthur C. Chase Endowed Chair in English emerged as an enduring, academic counterpart to the physical tribute.

From conception to the Dedication in June, Drake served as chair and champion of the League of Bears. He found enthusiastic support among committee members Kevin Bruemmer ’71, Jeff Follert ’73, Ken Gordon ’73, Robin McGraw ’70, Rex Morgan ’73, Chip Perkins ’73, Richardson, Jerry Weil ’73, and Alec Wyeth ’73, as well as Chase’s family members. To date, more than 50 donors— including alumni from 1956 to 2006—have joined the effort. Unwavering in purpose, the League of Bears will continue to raise funds toward a fully endowed Chase Chair in celebration of the faculty members carrying Chase’s legacy forward and the many alumni, like Bill Drake, who also embody his spirit.

To learn more about the Chase Chair and Bear, visit berkshireschool.org/chase.

Perched at the southwest corner of Buck Valley watching an eight-foot bronze bear being gingerly lowered onto a meticulously balanced rock outcropping, Mark Richardson ’73 hovers between measured anticipation and unchecked exuberance. This sculpture, five years in the making, represents a labor of love on Richardson’s part and on the part of all the alumni and friends who raised funds and sustained the vision to bring it to campus. The bear pays homage to Arthur C. Chase, a 35-year Berkshire veteran who, in Richardson’s words, was a “‘scholar/warrior’ we all looked up to … an imposing man with a soft nature.”

Said to have been able to hold 11 dinner plates in one hand, Chase was fittingly nicknamed “The Bear.”

Richardson, a well-heeled artist looking back on his time at Berkshire, remembers “roaming the Mountain and learning to love a natural world … to collaborate and be a team player, to be fearless, and to lead and take risks.” Thanks to Berkshire’s influence and the guidance of his mentor and photography teacher Bob Witkowski, Richardson attended the prestigious Apeiron Workshops in Millerton, N.Y., and gained acceptance to Rhode Island School of Design. Graduating with honors, he enjoyed a celebrated career as a designer and illustrator.

Thoughts drift back to the stretch of upturned earth spreading out before him and to the sculpture that has dominated his waking hours and artistic focus these recent years.

Richardson has worked tirelessly to capture in bronze not a man but rather that man’s spirit—universal, at times ineffable, and forever a fixture in Berkshire’s landscape. He has succeeded. Now and for years to come, the Bear Tribute Sculpture will be a testament to Chase’s essence—as relevant today as it was the year Richardson and his classmates dedicated the 1973 yearbook to their mentor, friend, and namesake of the School’s then-new mascot, “The Bear.”

To read more about artist Mark Richardson ’73, visit berkshireschool.org/richardson.

Profiles by Katie Kutney

Bill Drake’s name will appear in the In Memoriam section of the Berkshire Bulletin Winter 2020 issue.

82

Berkshire Bulletin

Summer 2019

83