Los Altos resident Darcy Fowkes, D’Arcy Couture’s owner/clothes designer, organized a fashion shoot last month featuring the Rotary Club of Los Altos’ fiberglass bears on display throughout downtown Los Altos.
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A dozen Los Altos High School students, advised by their art teacher Christine An, tamed a variety of the colorful fiberglass bears populating the downtown area for the Los Altos Bears fundraiser.
The Town Crierâs new mascot bear greets the public from the paperâs balcony on Main Street. Student artists Samantha Zhang, Jacqueline Hu and Yelena Tao collaborated with one another and Town Crier staff to create a bear costumed as a traditional European town crier, complete with bell and tri-cornered hat.
The trio of artists faced challenges, such as being consistent in painting the bearâs fur and clothing. While they worked in the Town Crierâs lobby, its door open to the sidewalk, curious passersby expressed their appreciation to the artists, who said they had great fun working as a team.
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Piper Willis poses with a large bear in the Veterans Community Plaza last month. The bear, created by Morgan Bricca for sponsor Rotary Club of Los Altos, is titled Can you see yourself in California? Â According to Bricca, the grizzly bear sports a garland of poppies and redwood sprigs, as well as apricot blossoms representing Los Altos. The Santa Cruz mountains featured on the grizzlyâs chest provide a breathtaking backdrop to our bustling town and an easy escape into the redwoods, she said. Our community is blessed by the cultural diversity of our immigrants, represented by the different fabric patterns featured in the cape. . I hope this bear serves as a reminder that it is the diversity within our community that makes us beautiful.
The pandemic didnât stop the Rotary Club of Los Altos from focusing on its commitment to community service.
Amid restrictions imposed by the public health crisis, Rotarians continued to provide grants to local nonprofit groups and college scholarships to graduating seniors through the Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund.
Fundraising through the clubâs Fine Art in the Park open-air art show was impacted by poor weather in 2019 and canceled due to the pandemic in 2020. But this year, with many COVID restrictions in the rearview mirror, Carol Dabb, the Rotary Clubâs artist coordinator, introduced the Los Altos Bears project, aimed at generating funds for Rotary efforts and drawing visitors to the downtown area.