City Museum's New 'Bop Bear' Is Straight Out of Burning Man

Artist Fnnch's creation is 14-feet tall, and yes, you're meant to knock him over

Jul 17, 2023 at 11:17 am

COURTESY OF FNNCH

Artist Fnnch set out to build a giant Bop Bag — and succeeded.

If you have fond memories of trying to knock down a Bop Bag as a child — maybe a clown, maybe a dolphin? — you're going to love the interactive art piece just installed on the roof of City Museum.

It's a 14-foot, 200-plus-pound Bop Bear. And yes, you can knock him over, but only if you're really good at that sort of thing.

The bear comes via the San Francisco-based artist Fnnch, who created him for last year's Burning Man festival. A St. Louis native whose whimsical honey bears adorn a prominent mural in Grand Center, Fnnch credits his childhood visits to City Museum for his affinity for such projects.

"At Burning Man, interactivity in art is something they try to highlight," he says. "That's unusual in the art world but not unusual for City Museum. Having had City Museum as a model as a kid, I think art should be interactive by default."

Even with that background, Fnnch (pronounced "finch") acknowledges it took him some trial and error to figure out the recipe for Burning Man success. Bop Bear ended up being a huge hit at the 2022 festival, something that wasn't necessarily true of his previous attempts. He credits the novelty: "You see things you can climb and spin. Something you can bop is unusual."

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VIA INSTAGRAM FNNCH

The Bop Bears on location in the desert.

For Fnnch, placing one of the nine Burning Man Bop Bears at City Museum felt like a no-brainer. He initially began making art as a side project, only devoting himself full-time to the work in 2016. When City Museum first acquired one of his paintings, it felt like a big deal: "That was a moment for me of being like, 'Oh man, I've made it.' In this case, I don't know a better place for this to go than City Museum."

The piece was installed Saturday. Rick Erwin, the museum's creative director, says, "Yes, a bear is on the roof — a phrase that should surprise no one. Fnnch fits right into our project to put art at eye/hand/foot level."

On Sunday, its creator returned to watch kids take on the big bear. He was delighted to watch kids giving it their best shot. You can see their efforts in the video he shot that day:

Fnnch stayed busy while he was in town, painting a mural at Clementine's Creamery in Edwardsville (he and owner Tamara Keefe have a long, felicitous affiliation), creating a honey bear at Build-a-Bear and working on a street art project in suburbs like his native Kirkwood, Webster Groves and Clayton.

("What is appropriate art for a suburban space?" he said he set out to explore. The answer ended up being waterproof, fully removable honey bears, installed on about 30 utility boxes around town.)

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COURTESY OF FNNCH

Street art, Kirkwood style.

But the City Museum visit was a true highlight. "I've always thought of City Museum as a semi-dangerous jungle gym," he says. "They don't infantilize children. You could hurt yourself if you banged your head on a stalactite. You could fall off something. Like Burning Man, they put the power in your hands."

And now that power includes the power to bop.

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COURTESY OF FNNCH

A determined local gives the Bop Bear his best shot.

San Francisco Street Artist Fnnch Leaves His Mark on Clementine's Creamery

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Arts Stories & Interviews Things to Do Fnnch street art City Museum St. Louis artists honey bear art

About The Author

Sarah Fenske

Sarah Fenske is the executive editor of the RFT and its sister papers. She is the former host of St. Louis on the Air and continues to host its Legal Roundtable, as well participating as an occasional panelist on Nine PBS' Donnybrook. She lives in St. Louis.