The Man Who Used To Hunt Cougars For Bounty — 1972
In 1971, when Western Washington University campus was remodeling, they asked Beyer to create a sculpture that would be placed in front on the library. Beyer chose to make a sculpture out of granite and model the work after an old local folk tale called “The Old Man and the Cougar.” “There was a man living in a cabin nearby. He used to hunt cougars for bounty. Roaming the hills with his dogs…he could no longer hunt. He took to drink. So now, with a cougar sitting in his lap, they both became drunk and sang “America”,” (Beyer 40). Beyer said he wanted to created a sense of “reconciliation between the bounty hunter and the cougar,” (Beyer 40).
This time in America was a very politically and socially turbulent one, especially marginalized groups such indigenous peoples, people of color, lgbt identifying people, and women, were all continuing their fight for human rights. This catalyzed intensive art that challenged social constructions and our perceptions of the world In addition to this turmoil, US politics at this time were at a peak of instability. U.S. involvement in Cambodia and Vietnam sparked Anti-War movements and the Watergate Scandal in Richard Nixon’s cabinet. Through movements surrounding identity, self-expression continued to be a popular art form.
Western Washington University during this time was undergoing numerous structural changes. Construction was scheduled for the library, prompting the inclusion of Richard Beyer’s sculpture on the Old Main Lawn. In response to the Vietnam War and other militaristic happenings, students were getting politically involved through organizing and protesting. The inclusion of this sculpture onto Western’s campus brought about different conversations of environmentalism, and was overall a positive scene for students to enjoy amidst this tumult.
During this time, there was a surprising amount of environmental policy and social justice work being done. Especially after 1970, when Washington passed the National Environment Protection Act as well as the Endangered Species Act. Animals that had previously been hunted and were at risk were now under protection, or at least there was a strong push for protection. This could have been an influence for the work. The simplicity of the piece also reflects the time. The artist was less focused on the detail and precision as much as the medium in which it was expressed, an example of formalism.
Beyer and his team worked on the 5 foot cube of granite that was delivered to use and completed the sculpture in eight weeks and had it done in 1972. Beyer used hand drills and power tools to carve out the sculpture. The intent of this project according to Beyer was to create a sort of “Reconciliation of the bounty hunter and the cougar. Knowing that his sculpture would be seen by a lot of people, Beyer wanted his sculpture to be seen as “ecological instruction”,(Beyer 40). Beyer wanted to show that man and animal should rejoice together and not engage in the hunter/prey dynamic.
The true background on the piece and intention of the artist is not known to most who walk past it everyday, despite being located in an integral part of WWU’s campus. To understand how those at Western feel about this piece, we asked different groups of people to explain what their initial thoughts on the sculpture were and how they interact with it when walking around campus, as you can see in the video above.
As we can see from the varying depictions and opinions of the piece, art is definitely what you make of it. From suspected notions of sexuality, assumptions of other wild animals, or just overall confusion surrounding the sculpture, we can see that there is no defined or uniform way people perceive the piece. The feelings and emotion–or lack of– that are evoked from the art piece are are specific to you, making you the leader of your interpretation.

By: Beth Girma, Jordan Shephard, Jack Fiorillo

Bibliography
Beyer, Margaret W., and Beyer, Richard S. The Art People Love: stories of Richard S. Beyer’s Life and his sculpture. Pullman, WA: Washington state U press, 1999. Print.
“Contemporary Art Movements Chronological list of Postmodernist styles and artforms.” Contemporary Art Movements (1970-present). N.p., n.d. Wed. 25 Apr. 2017
:Rich Beyer Sculpture.” Rich Beyer Sculpture, www.richbeyersculpture.com/.
The Early Years,
www.richbeyersculpture.com/bio/theearlyyears/birth_seattle.html.
“The Man who used to Hunt Cougars for Bounty.”Wwupedia Wiki, wwupedia.wikia.com/wiki/the_man_who_used_to_hunt_cougars_for_bounty
“Waiting for the interurban.” Fremont, Seattle,fremont.com/explore/sights/waiting-for-the-interurban/.
“Western through the Ages: May 1970.” The AS Review, Western Washington University , 21 Feb. 2017, wp.wwu.edu/theasreview/2017/02/21/western-through-the-ages-may-1970/.