by Cody Kitaura
You can t miss it. And it s perfect for a “bear hug.”
Artist Solomon Bassoff and Bohart Museum director Lynn Kimsey stand by the tardigrade sculpture. (Photo courtesy of Solomon Basshoff)
The newly installed sculpture of a tardigrade, or water bear, promises not only to be a cuddly campus landmark but it may be the world s largest and only sculpture of its kind. It weighs 2,112 pounds and measures 6 feet long and nearly 3 feet high, whereas in real life, tardigrades are microscopic.
The sculpture, located in front of the Academic Surge, anchors the entrance to the Bohart Museum of Entomology, which houses one of the world s largest tardigrade collections.