Once Upon a Bear

Presented January 30, 2026 as part of IgNite at The Chrysler Museum of Art

This interactive performance grew out of a conversation sparked by Richard La Barre Goodwin’s painting Teddy Roosevelt’s Door. While talking with a docent about the work, we found ourselves tracing the familiar story of where teddy bears come from. The story sounded simple. Innocent, even. And that’s when a different question surfaced: who gets to tell it? In fact, who decides who tells any story?

This activity invites you to fill in a few missing words in that origin story. The structure stays the same. The bear stays the same. But depending on the words chosen, the meaning shifts. Some versions feel charming. Others feel strange. All of them reveal how easily stories about art, history, and comfort are shaped by those telling them.

Bear by Ryan Lyttle