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MAP Bear

If you've walked down Myrtle Avenue, visited the Library, or hiked up to the Nature Center, you're bound to have spotted Samson the Bear.

Multiple Samson the Bear statues - and one "Delilah" - were sponsored and painted by the Art in Public Places Committee, local businesses, and Mount Sierra College, and placed around town to celebrate Samson's legacy.

In 2022, the Monrovia Area Partnership had the privilege of adopting our very own Samson Bear, the MAP Bear located in front of City Hall!

On April 30, 2022 at our 12th Annual MAP Neighborhood Conference, the MAP Samson Bear was born. Through the collaboration of City staff, MAP Leaders, community members, and artist Traci Loving, our vision was brought to life. 

When discussing ideas on the design of the MAP Bear, we wanted to include our community members as much as possible. MAP can't exist without our community members, after all. With that in mind, we decided we wanted our Leaders and community members to have the opportunity to paint the bear. 

What makes the bear unique is that each puzzle piece is painted by you, our very own Monrovia residents! 

On June 25, 2022, our finished MAP Bear was debuted at Julian Fisher Park at the 16th Anniversary MAP Block Party. That was the final stop before he made his way to his forever home in front of City Hall. If you stop by for a visit, make sure to take a photo and tag @monroviamap on Instagram to be featured on our page! :)

Thank You

**Special thank you to our artist Traci Loving for creating the artwork and to Ferrari Brothers Body Shop for the complimentary clear coat on our MAP Bear! **

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