BEARPAD makes large, colorful wooden cut-outs of big friendly affectionate bubs. We've put em up in galleries, at parties, in the woods for bear runs, and at queer arts festivals. These fun, sex positive, and big bodied fellas are up all over the world, but we're always lookin for new places to spread cozy BEARPAD vibes.

BARRACKS ART INSTALL DEC. 2023 (PALM SPRINGS, CA)

One of the goals of BEARPAD is to introduce bigger bodies and cozier desires in spaces that don’t have that kind of representation, and the Barracks in Cathedral City (near Palm Springs) is one such place. A classic leather bar, it has a large amount of art on the walls of the kind that you would usually see in leather bars, but not a lot of bears. We experimented with combining multiple boards to create a big demon bub. At 8 feet by 6 feet, he’s larger than the size of a standard piece of plywood that we’re generally restricted to. We installed him in a prominent location above the built-in leather shop, and named him PIG BAIT as a reference to the film The Wild One and also the types of outfits that many leathermen often wear.

XMAS XPOSURE DEC. 2023 (PALM SPRINGS, CA)

BEARPAD had so much experience with monster bubs for the past few months, we decided to finish off the year with a cute take on Krampus. We had a bit more time with this one than we usually do for Xposure events, so we took the time to add details and work with masks the way that we did for the MONSTER BUBS show at Strut.

UCSC OPEN STUDIOS DEC. 2023 (SANTA CRUZ, CA)

Half of BEARPAD is still getting their MFA, and this show featured two works in progress by that half. A Beautiful Garden is a video wall of older mis-matched CRT TVs, networked together with Raspberry Pis, with video displayed across all of them as one image. The video is heavily effected porn, in the style of “popper trainer” videos. Viewers were given a pamphlet on harm reduction for popper use, and then offered poppers.
Another piece featured the backside of a BEARPAD cutout painted white. The works of Tom of Finland were projected onto it, cutting too rapidly for individual figures to be made out. A hidden camera occasionally mixed video of the viewer into this stream of images. The front side was illuminated with a color-changing light.

POWERHOUSE MURAL NOV. 2023 (SAN FRANSCISCO, CA)

The Powerhouse bar sits at the historic corner of Folsome and Dore, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to create our first outdoor mural on that corner. With help from Kami, a friend experienced in mural painting, we painted a brightly-colored cuddle pile over the course of 3 days that we’re hoping becomes the official throuple mural at future street fairs.

ELECTROLUXX: GHOST PALACE OCT. 2023 (PALACE OF FINE ARTS, SAN FRANSCISCO, CA)

The immersive multi-stage art party Electroluxx took over the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco for a Halloween party, and BEARPAD was a part of it. We got a handful of cuddly cut-outs and one big inflatable chode to help make the vibe of the party a little fuzzier and friendlier.

BEARRISON STREET FAIR OCT. 2023 (SAN FRANSCISCO, CA)

Bearrison gave us an opportunity to install 4 free standing bubs around a dance floor, as well as install 4 inflatables at a few different stages. We took the knowledge we gained from the ARCHWAY at Lazy Bear this year to secure the bubs and made the dance floor on the street a bit more fun and friendly. The main stage benefited from a giant inflatable chode, as most places would.

WESTERN XPOSURE OCT. 2023 (PALM SPRINGS, CA)

For this Western Xposure event, BEARPAD crafted our usual large-scale wooden bubs, with an emphasis on Halloween. We re-created a few of our older pieces, crafted some brand new horned bubs, and premiered the witch bub, just going for a ride on his broomstick (this was the favorite piece of many of the attendees).

STRUT SOLO SHOW OCT. 2023 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA)

BEARPAD’s return to Strut as featured artists in October gave us the opportunity to work in some more creative figures with our show MONSTER BUBS. We took a bit more time and care with these figures, as well as experimenting with new techniques to give each of the 7 pieces a more detailed finish than we’re usually able to. We took inspiration from monsters, myths, and pop culture to create newer creatures that fit in with BEARPAD’s fuzzy cuddly vibes.

LAZY BEAR 2023 (GUERNEVILLE, CA)

Lazy Bear 2023 had the premiere of the largest piece of BEARPAD artwork yet, the ARCHWAY. There’s a party on the weekend nights at Lazy Bear called the Bonfire; it takes place in a field illuminated by the light of a central fire, where the vibe is a little more laid back and frisky. Beyond the bonfire is a darker field where some of the bears get a little friskier and friendlier than they might by the light of the fire. We chose to celebrate this specific part of the event by installing a 16’ by 12’ archway featuring the tangled bodies of larger men. This was the largest piece of art at the bonfire, framing the interactions beyond the bonfire as the primary attraction of the event.
In addition to the archway, big wooden BEARPAD bubs were installed in various places around the DJ booth and field, as well as our inflatables, with projected visuals on their surface. These bubs were installed a few every day, giving the impression of the bonfire party slowly filling up with more friendly fuzzy thick bears over the course of the weekend.

FERN GULLY FESTIVAL JULY 2023 (FELTON, CA)

A forest party in the hills of Santa Cruz needed a little bit of visual accompaniment for their live bands, and BEARPAD came to the rescue. It was fun to get back into the swirling psychedelic vibes of analog liquid lights for the night, but those old-school projectors can get heavy when you’re lugging them deep into the woods.

EASTERN XPOSURE JUNE 2023 (PARLIAMENT RESORT, AUGUSTA, GA)

While the bubs that make BEARPAD weren't able to attend Eastern Xposure, the bubs that BEARPAD make made the trip, decorating the Parliament Resort in Augusta for their Summer bear party.

ELECTROLUXX PARTIES 2023 (SAN FRANCISCO, CA)

The mushroom dicks from Something Queer and Safewords Comedy continued their journey, in addition to many flat cutouts that lined the silent disco area of the Midway party.

GRIN AND BEAR IT - SAFEWORDS COMEDY (THE EAGLE BAR, SAN FRANCISCO, CA)

It’s been a goal of ours to bring more big friendly bubs to the Eagle in San Francisco for a while, so we jumped at the opportunity to team up with the queer comedy show Safe Words for a special bear-themed event. BEARPAD created a couple of colorful party bubs to back up the performers, as well as bringing a couple of our inflatable dickshrooms, complete with custom video projected onto ‘em. The party bubs were able to stay up at the Eagle for the entire San Francisco Pride weekend.

SOMETHING QUEER (SARATOGA SPRINGS, CA)

Returning to Saratoga Springs in 2023, we installed three custom "mushroom dick" inflatables with projection mapping of psychedelic bear porn on top. Also on the grounds, we installed a quadrophonic sound tent called COZY SPACE with projected visuals on the ceiling that could be controlled with a vintage gamepad.

QUEER (BODIES IN PUBLIC) SPACE (UCSC, SANTA CRUZ, CA)

Part of the MFA exhibition HEAP IS FULL presented by the Digital Art and New Media program at UCSC, featuring a mountable sex sling as the central point of interaction in the space. (SEE VIDEO BELOW) 

WESTERN XPOSURE MARCH 2023 (CCBC, CATHEDRAL CITY, CA)

We made more bubs for West, adding to his collection of around 20 woodcut pieces averaging 8 feet tall.