Another effort to memorialize the most famous bear who ever lived, Grizzly 399, is underway — and plans are to make effort larger than life much like the reach of the Wyoming momma bear that captivated wildlife lovers.
The Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project is raising $450,000 to build a huge bronze sculpture of the Queen of the Tetons and her famous brood of four cubs in the Jackson area by Mother’s Day 2026.
Jocelyn Russell, the lead sculptor of the project, already has created a clay model depicting Grizzly 399 and her quad of cubs that will serve as the basis for the life-and-a-half-sized bronze sculpture she hopes will in the area where Grizzly 399 was watched by throngs of Grand Teton Range visitors during her 28-year life.
“Life-and-a-half takes the sculpture from monument to heroic,” Russell told Cowboy State Daily. “I’ve always opted to go a little bit bigger on my monuments because animals can look small when sculpted at life-size. 399 was heroic in everybody’s mind. We need to maintain a heroic size to convey how heroic she was.”
In Memoriam
The sudden death of Grizzly 399 on Oct. 22, 2024, when she was hit by a car prompted an international response.
Angie Cotton, project coordinator for the Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project, said she cried for days when she learned the bear she’d never seen in the flesh herself was dead.
“All those wonderful photographers and videographers brought 399 to our homes,” she said. “We knew she was old, but nobody wanted her to pass, especially under those circumstances.”
Grizzly 399 was already famous when she emerged from her winter den in 2020 with four cubs. Over the course of her life, she raised 18 cubs, including her latest, a huge single cub named Spirit by the public.
Her legendary life — far longer than most wild grizzlies — inspired people worldwide, a PBS documentary, and a limited-edition batch of Wyoming Whiskey.
After Grizzly 399’s death, hundreds of people gathered in Jackson’s Town Square for a memorial ceremony. As mourning turned to a discussion on how best to memorialize 399, Cotton knew immediately who to call.
“I immediately thought of Jocelyn,” she said. “Grizzly 399 needs a monument. She needs something to memorialize her in bronze so people can see and touch her. So, I messaged Jocelyn, and here we are today, helping to make this a reality.”
The Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project aims to place a bronze monument to Grizzly 399 in the Jackson area, sculpted by Russell. The non-profit Angels Without Wings is leading the fundraising effort.
Angels Without Wings has helped create monuments to animals that have left a lasting impact on the world. It placed five bronze memorials of Sgt. Reckless, a U.S. Marine Corps warhorse awarded two Purple Hearts and a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal during the Korean War, and the explosive-detecting dog Lucca K458, who ensured no human fatalities after 400 missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Grizzly 399 symbolizes love and inspiration,” said Angels Without Wings President Robin Hutton. “As tragic as her death was, she’s still educating people about wildlife conservation through her memory. She is truly an angel without wings, so it was only natural that our board jumped into the project.”
Russell created the sculptures of Sgt. Reckless and Lucca K458. That, according to Hutton, made her the best and obvious choice to create a larger-than-life monument honoring Grizzly 399.
“There’s no better artist for this project than Jocelyn,” she said. “All the facts and images come into her head and out of her fingers. That’s how we know this monument will truly be something special.”
Grounded Guardian
Russell is a renowned bronze artist who has done several ambitious animal projects from her Running Wild Studio in Friday Harbor, Washington. She’s created larger-than-life sculptures of animals, including bison, bears, elephants, and iconic figures like Secretariat.
“The Audubon Zoo contacted me in 2015 for five life-size elephants, five lions, and a mob of meerkats,” she said. “They wanted it done in six weeks, but I managed to talk them back to 22 months.”
Russell acknowledged that she’s not a “Jackson artist,” although her work has been featured in art galleries there and elsewhere in Wyoming. In September 2020, she traveled to Grand Teton National Park to observe Grizzly 399 firsthand, becoming yet another person with an inextricable connection to the animal icon.
“Watching her interact with her cubs was very motivating,” she said. “I was inspired by how the four cubs were so different from each other, but they were still such a tight unit. I wanted to work off my memories as a reference.”
The clay maquette of Russell’s intended monument depicts Grizzly 399 with her cubs standing underneath her, looking out at the world. While the cubs are posed on their hind legs, Grizzly 399 solidly stands on all fours.
Russell said it was important to her that Grizzly 399 be on all four legs rather than towering on her hind legs. When she started the project, she researched other sculptures of the grizzly, including Sandy Scott's 8-foot-tall sculpture at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois.
“I wanted to make sure I didn’t do something similar to anyone else,” she said. “Standing is a classic pose that anyone might choose first, but I wanted to portray her as a guardian with her cubs standing tall.”
Russell added that keeping 399 on all fours will lower her head, which she hopes will make the finished monument more engaging to visitors. When finished, the monument will be placed at ground level so people can be encouraged to approach and touch it.
“She would be accessible to people in wheelchairs that are not as mobile as others,” Russell said. “They could wheel right up to her and at least get their hands on her claws, paws, or back legs. I hope people will be very hands-on with the monument. They should be able to touch 399 and her cubs. It will bring something special to everyone’s heart.”
Where She Stood
The size of the monument will depend on its location. Several spots in the Jackson Valley, all in the vicinity of Grizzly 399’s territory, are being considered.
A promising lead would give the monument a place on the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Sculpture Trail. That, at least, would ensure the monument resides in a spot where it could be accessible to everyone.
“There's a talk about placing it on East Broadway in downtown Jackson, but it couldn’t be life and a half downtown,” Russell said. “We're talking to Hotel Terra in Teton Village, and we’re going on a site visit there soon, but I’m worried that might be a little too far out of the beaten path.”
The most obvious place for a 399 monument would be somewhere along Pilgrim Creek in Grand Teton National Park. That’s where the grizzly’s ashes were scattered after her remains were discreetly cremated.
Everyone involved in the Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project would love to see Russell’s sculpture in Grand Teton National Park. However, Russell believes there’s a “less than zero” chance that’ll ever happen.
“It’s a can of worms in the parks,” she said. “There are so many rules and regulations about placement, and when one person gets a monument or piece of artwork in the park, that could set a precedent. The National Park Service doesn’t want to go there.”
Also, placing a sizeable bronze sculpture on the natural landscape could be seen as contradictory to 399’s legacy as a wild animal. As fitting as it might be for her likeness to permanently be seen in her home, the project isn’t aiming to accomplish it.
“Everybody says she belongs in the park, but that’s not going to happen,” Russell said.”
Fingerprints In Clay
Russell, along with fellow sculptors Kristen Douglas-Seitz and Colleen Moore, is still tweaking the maquette in her studio. Jackson resident and photographer Sonia Reid is providing art direction through photographs and firsthand input.
“I'm open to changing the design,” she said. “I’m open to critiques because her following was pretty wide. If someone who saw her in person says her ears are too round or her snout is too short, I want to get it as close to Grizzly 399 as possible. It’ll be a better piece because of it, and that’s the goal.”
Nothing’s set in stone or bronze yet. Input is encouraged from anyone who has an emotional investment in helping the most fitting memorial to Grizzly 399 be realized.
“One thing that is super attractive to people about Jocelyn's work is the public involvement in making her pieces,” Douglas-Seitz said. “She doesn't just sit at home and sculpt them. She brings everyone on board, and people love her because they're attracted to the story behind it, and she makes that available to them.”
Russell hopes someone might have measured Grizzly 399 after her death so she can create the finished sculpture based on the bear’s actual proportions. Collaboration is key to the success of this endeavor.
“When Jocelyn does anything, it’s inclusive, not exclusive,” said the project’s marketing director, Deanna Cox. “Jocelyn can allow everyone to share the empathy 399’s legacy and all she brought to the Grand Tetons. Her process keeps our team and the world at the forefront of her research and progress.”
Once the sculpting is underway, Russell hopes people will come to her studio. They’ll be allowed to see the work-in-progress and contribute a piece of themselves to the finished sculpture.
“I want people to come to the studio and put their fingerprints in clay,” she said. “There’s something magical about being a part of that process. When people can come and put a piece of clay on the model, the monument takes on a whole new feeling of love, inclusion, and grandness.”
In the best-case scenario, the team would love to incorporate a piece of Grizzly 399 into her monument.
“If anyone, somehow, managed to save a piece of her fur, we could incorporate that into the monument,” Hutton said. “We did that with tail hair from Sgt. Reckless in three monuments we created, so there’s a little piece of her in each of them. It’s a special way to really feel her presence, and we’d love to do the same with 399.”
Empathy, Education and Motherhood
In mid-February, the Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project received its first gold donation of $5,000. This is an enormous step toward bringing the monument to fruition, especially since the project only recently announced itself to the world.
Grizzly 399’s international audience has been clamoring for a memorial since her death. Everyone involved in the project is confident they’ll find the funding to achieve their full vision for the monument.
“For me, fundraising is always a numbers game,” Cox said. “This grizzly is known internationally. Everyone loves her and her cubs. That’s what made it so easy for me to get involved, and it’ll make it that much easier for people to follow, donate, and be a part of honoring her legacy.”
The finished monument will include interpretive panels and a granite slab inscribed with the names of the top donors. The project also said they're exploring the concept of adding an additional sculpture of Spirit, Grizzly 399's final cub, to present a more complete picture of the grizzly's life and legacy.
Since she first heard her story, Cotton has been captivated by Grizzly 399’s maternal instincts and success. That’s why she’s eager to help create the monument and provide everyone with a tangible way to recollect and reconnect with her legacy.
“Her maternal side drew everyone in, even if they weren’t a mother,” she said. “But more than that, Grizzly 399 showed us a different side of grizzlies. She showed us that, with a little respect and space, we can coexist. A lot of work is left to be done, and she is gone now, but her legacy will last forever.”
The deadline for finishing and installing the monument is May 10, 2026. Russell knows she can finish the piece by then and believes there couldn’t be a better day to dedicate a monument to Grizzly 399's enduring legacy.
“It would be very fitting for the matriarch of the Tetons to be dedicated on Mother’s Day,” she said.
Contact Andrew Rossi at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
