Western Washington University is home to a nationally acknowledged sculpture collection. The collection includes a vast variety of pieces, but there is one piece that is constantly being misinterpreted among the students on campus. Richard Beyer’s sculpture, “The Man Who Used to Hunt Cougar for Bounty” is often giggled at from it’s spot perched in front of the campus library, almost always mistaken for a man humping a bear. But in actuality, the piece depicts a man, a cougar, and a jug of whiskey (cleverly hidden over the man’s shoulder). The concept Beyer attempts to communicate is that of the relationship between wild and man. Beyers’ artwork is often inspired by current events, history and folk-tales. The concept behind this piece comes from an old local legend called “The Old Man and the Cougar”, about a man who decided that he was forever finished with cougar hunting but instead took up drinking. Together, the old man and the cougar reconcile their past and hold each other drunkenly, heads thrown back in song. Through his work, Beyers is able to make a statement about the need for men to reconcile their past and make emends with those they’ve mistreated.

Shelby Mathwig, Hayley Deti, Adam Harris