World Art Utopia

Teddy Bear on a Swing — James Colomina, Bristol

A small red teddy bear sits on a red swing hanging on long red ropes from the white lattice side of Gaol Ferry Bridge, above green trees
Artwork FileBristol, UK

Teddy Bear on a Swing

SeenMar 2025

James Colomina · red sculpture on a swing, 2024 · Gaol Ferry Bridge, Bristol, United Kingdom

Photo: as published on Street Art Utopia (When Sculptures Come Alive (8 Photos vol. 4), 28 October 2026; cropped from the photo also shown in Santa Claus With a Gift Box Head: Paris Street Art That Makes You Think). Artwork: James Colomina.

A small red teddy bear sits on a red swing hanging from Gaol Ferry Bridge in Bristol. James Colomina, an artist from Toulouse, installed it in the early hours of Wednesday 25 September 2024, together with a child in a dunce hat at Turbo Island in Stokes Croft. He said the bear “evokes childhood and its lightness, reminding us of simple, carefree times.” Source Source Source Checked

Seen Mar 2025. Evidence date: 3 March 2025, the camera date of Neil Owen’s Geograph photo, shared on Wikimedia Commons, of the red bear swinging from the bridge. Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. Installed before dawnBristol24/7 reported on 25 September 2024 that Colomina installed his two sculptures in the early hours of that Wednesday morning. Source Checked
  2. A pair with a messageThe second piece, a child in a dunce hat, went up at Turbo Island, a plot then up for auction; Colomina said the land “must be saved”, the BBC reported. Source Source Checked
  3. Three days from ToulouseBristol24/7 wrote that he arrived in Bristol after a three-day drive from Toulouse, and listed Gaol Ferry Bridge among his new Bristol locations. Source Checked
  4. Still swinging in 2025Neil Owen’s photo, taken on 3 March 2025 and shared on Wikimedia Commons via Geograph, shows the red bear still swinging from the bridge. Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Hanging from the side of Gaol Ferry Bridge, a footbridge in Bristol Source Source Source Source Checked

Open in Maps

Map pin from the object location on the Commons photo (51°26′45.2″N 2°35′58″W). We have not checked a Street View image of it, so the button opens a plain map.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 202425 Sep

    Bristol24/7: installed in the early hours

  2. 202426 Sep

    BBC News reports the bear on the bridge

  3. 20241 Oct

    Bristol24/7 interview lists Gaol Ferry Bridge

  4. 202414 Oct

    Artistes d’Occitanie reports the swing

  5. 20256 Feb

    Bridge decking firm Polydeck posts about the bear

  6. 20253 Mar

    Photographed by Neil Owen (Geograph)

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Bristol24/725 September 2024

Two sculptures installed by French street artist

Colomina said the teddy bear on a swing beneath Gaol Ferry Bridge “evokes childhood and its lightness, reminding us of simple, carefree times.”

Read the source →

BBC News26 September 2024

Two red sculptures appear suddenly in city

“One of the sculptures – a teddy bear sitting on a swing that is hanging off Gaol Ferry Bridge …”

Read the source →

Artistes d’Occitanie14 October 2024

Le Toulousain James Colomina pose ses sculptures à Bristol (Angleterre)

„L’artiste a aussi installé une balançoire avec un ours en peluche sous le pont de la Gaol Ferry.”

“The artist also installed a swing with a teddy bear under the Gaol Ferry bridge.”

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Artist
James Colomina Source Source Source Source Checked
Title
No title in the sources; it is described as a teddy bear on a swing Source Source Unconfirmed
Installed
Early hours of Wednesday 25 September 2024 Source Source Checked
Place
Hanging from Gaol Ferry Bridge, Bristol Source Source Source Source Checked
Companion piece
A child in a dunce hat at Turbo Island, Stokes Croft, installed the same day Source Source Checked
Artist’s base
Toulouse, France Source Source Checked
Status
Photographed in place on 3 March 2025 Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Photo: as published on Street Art Utopia (When Sculptures Come Alive (8 Photos vol. 4), 28 October 2026; cropped from the photo also shown in Santa Claus With a Gift Box Head: Paris Street Art That Makes You Think). Artwork: James Colomina.

Last checked: 28 October 2026 · How we verify art