Grants Pass, OR

From the outside, the Bear Hotel looks like an unassuming industrial building. But step inside, and you’ll be transported to a wonderland filled with bears of all sizes and themes, walk-through displays of the redwoods and the ocean, topped with twinkling lights and chandeliers.

This Oregon space came to be during the production of a community art project called BearFest. During the festival, local artists created nearly 200 fiberglass bear sculptures in unique, but distinctly ursine forms. The bear statues range in size from life-size to baby. There’s a a bear in overalls peeking out of a jack-o-lantern, a pair of bears swing dancing, bears with hiking backpacks, a metallic blue bear, and many more.

Many of the pieces created for BearFest have been auctioned to raise money for local nonprofits, but many have remained as a permanent art collection for Evergreen Federal Bank, which hosts the festival. In the summer, these bear statues are on display throughout Grants Pass, but in the winter they hibernate at the Bear Hotel.

In addition to the statues themselves, local artists have created elaborate walk-through displays of Southern Oregon landscapes for the Bear Hotel. The room is lined with oversized LED winter scenes as well.