Grizzly 399, “the Queen of the Tetons,” will have a permanent place in Jackson before the second anniversary of her death.
The Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project announced that a larger-than-life bronze sculpture of Grizzly 399 and the four “quads” will be installed at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson later this year. The dedication of the statue is set for Sept. 9, 2026.
Grizzly 399 was a world-famous grizzly bear from Grand Teton National Park whose calm roadside presence captivated thousands of tourists annually before she was struck by a car and killed in 2024. Known as “the Queen of the Tetons,” the grizzly became one of the most photographed and closely followed bears on the planet, inspiring documentaries, books, social media groups and conservation efforts.
When Grizzly 399 emerged with four cubs in May 2020, she became an international celebrity and wildlife ambassador. The bronze sculpture will depict the mother grizzly with "the quads," which is how most people remember her.
“She'll be at the main entrance to the museum, which is a very prestigious placement,” sculptor Jocelyn Russell told Cowboy State Daily. “There were only three spots for monuments at the entrance, and two were already occupied. This spot’s been available since 1994, and they decided they wanted 399 there. We're thrilled about that."
Legacy Of Love
Russell has been working on the sculpture for over a year. It will depict Grizzly 399 and “the quads” at life-and-three-quarters scale, slightly larger than the life-and-a-half scale originally planned.
“I’ve always opted to go a little bit bigger on my monuments because animals can look small when sculpted at life-size,” she said. “399 was heroic in everybody’s mind. We need to maintain a heroic size to convey how heroic she was. The scale takes the sculpture from monument to heroic.”
There have been several efforts to memorialize Grizzly 399, from the spontaneous to the extravagant, since she was killed in the Snake River Canyon on Oct. 22, 2024.
The Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project was started by the non-profit Angels Without Wings, which memorializes important and impactful animals in bronze. They set a fundraising goal of $450,000 to fund a bronze statue of Grizzly 399, to be placed in the vicinity of Grand Teton National Park and Pilgrim Creek, her home territory.
“Grizzly 399 showed us a different side of grizzlies,” project coordinator Angie Cotton told Cowboy State Daily in February 2025. “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.”
Cotton enlisted Russell, who’s sculpted everything from lions and herds of elephants to Secretariat, to sculpt a larger-than-life sculpture of Grizzly 399.
“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 to help us make this a reality.”
Timeline To Deadline
Fundraising for the Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project continues, but the sculpture is well underway. Russell said the 18-inch clay maquette she’s been sculpting and perfecting over the last year has been sent to a foundry for the next phase.
“She's been scanned and is currently being milled in foam at full scale,” she said. “Getting the photos of her head in foam at this massive size is just mind-boggling.”
The foam prototype will be molded in Russell’s Running Wild Studio in Friday Harbor, Washington. From there, it will be sent back to the foundry to be cast in wax, then cast in bronze using the traditional lost-wax casting process.
The sculpture will be cast in several pieces, welded together, made seamless, and patinaed. At that point, the sculpture will be ready to ship to Jackson.
Russell expects to have the foam prototype in her studio before the end of February. That will leave plenty of time to get the sculpture ready to reach the National Museum of Wildlife Art by the Sept. 9 dedication.
“We're going to be rocking and rolling pretty soon,” she said.
Large As In Life
The Sept. 9 dedication of the Grizzly 399 sculpture will include a meet-and-greet with Russell and a presentation on the process that led to the sculpture's creation and placement.
Russell said it was important that she depicted Grizzly 399 on all four legs rather than standing on her hind legs. She believes it will bring the already impressive figure of 399 closer to the ground and more engaging for visitors.
“Standing is a classic pose that anyone might choose,” she said. “I wanted to portray her as a guardian with her cubs standing tall.”
There was some discussion of adding Spirit, the cub Grizzly 399 was still mothering at the time of her death, to the project. While Russell said she’s open to sculpting Spirit in the future, and hopefully placing it nearby, it was ultimately decided that the scope of the initial installation needed to be narrowed.
“A lot of people said that Spirit deserves their own monument,” she said. “We weren't sure how we were going to bring Spirit into the group, and I think it would have been confusing to a lot of people. We have the option to add Spirit, but that would be a new project at a later date.”
There isn’t an official memorial to Grizzly 399 in Grand Teton National Park. After her death, the National Park Service cremated the famous bear and scattered her ashes at Pilgrim Creek.
Russell hopes her sculpture, made possible through the efforts of the Grizzly 399 Legacy of Love Project, will ensure Grizzly 399’s presence remains awe-inspiring and inspirational in death as she was in life.
“Grizzly 399 is everybody’s bear,” she said. “We are honored to document her legacy in bronze and to create a lasting work that reflects her significance. We’re over the moon on all fronts.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
