Cub and Lion
$65.00 – $425.00
“Cub and Lion” was shot in the Fall of 1977 while I was a senior at Penn State. I was walking on campus and saw a gentleman with a baby lion on a leash. I approached him and asked if he would go to the Nittany Lion Statue with me for just a few minutes. I promised him photos that he would never forget. Once at the lion, he sat the cub on the head of the Nittany Lion Statue. The cub looked at me and I shot this one frame. It must have heard the shutter of my camera as it wanted nothing to do with being calm after that. He ran all over the statue and I got a few other shots, but none quite like this one.
Established in 1887, the Nittany Lions have achieved numerous on-field successes, including two consensus national championships in 1982 and 1986, four Big Ten Conference Championships in 1994, 2005, 2008, and 2016, 13 undefeated seasons in 1887, 1894, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1920, 1921, 1947, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1986 and 1994, and 53 appearances in college bowl games, with an all-time post-season bowl record of 31–20–2.
“Cub and Lion” is available in the following sizes: 8×12, 11×17,16×24.
Unframed images come in a white mat and are shrink wrapped for protection. Each framed image includes double mats, glass, and your choice of a black, mahogany or walnut framing
| Size Options | 8×12, 11×16 1/2, 16×24 |
|---|---|
| Framing Options | Unframed, Black, Mahogany, Walnut |
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About Beaver Stadium:
The original Beaver Field was located on the west side of campus and seated 30,000 fans. Named for James Beaver, President of the Board of Trustees, the Nittany Lions played at the original Beaver Field from 1909 until 1959. In 1960, the original Beaver Field was moved to its current location and renamed Beaver Stadium.
Out of all of the State College fall activities, Penn State Football weekends are the quintessential experience. Rather than being surrounded by parking decks and high-rise buildings, Beaver Stadium, where the Penn State Nittany Lions play, is surrounded by fields. On Penn State Football weekends, those fields turn into some of the largest tailgating fields in the country. Fans pack up grills, coolers and yard games and travel to State College from all over in RVs, vans, SUVs, trucks and cars.
Before every home game is one big Penn State picnic — there’s a reason it made the list of America’s Top 10 College Tailgate Cities. When the football game begins, approximately 107,000 fans can be found dressed in blue and white and cheering on their Nittany Lions. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss — don’t forget to buy tickets and a parking pass in advance.
About the Artist:
As an artist, Tom Mosser is always looking around for ideas. In the alleyway dumpster near his studio a discarded tire became a paintbrush to get tread marks on his canvas.
“That’s how I ended up painting with balls,” said Mosser, a Pittsburgh-based painter and muralist whose work appears in sports venues across the country. “If you look around and ask, ‘How can I make art in a different way that hasn’t been done before?,’ you start rolling tires or balls across a canvas and you’re creating art.”
“I don’t think anyone in the history of mankind has demonstrated painting with old basketballs,” said Mosser with a hint of sarcasm, acknowledging there’s no such thing as an original thought but that no other artists that he is aware are painting with tires, balls and shoe bottoms.
Many of Mosser’s clients are professional sports organizations. Using footballs to apply the paint, Mosser completed seven paintings for U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where Super Bowl LII was played in February. He also contributed 36 pieces to Prudential Arena, home of the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, including a 200-foot-by-30-foot mural that is believed to be the largest interior mural in the world.
Inspired by an Andy Warhol quote, the theme of Mosser’s talk at A & I is “ideas,” in that everything that people do is an idea, whether that’s what to eat for breakfast, a shot selection in tennis or, in Mosser’s case, how to create art.
“Ideas and art are all around, you just have to look,” Mosser said. “The idea of looking around you and finding something completely fresh and new, if you do that, stuff happens.”
Mosser is no stranger to engaging audiences or the sports world. From 1990-97 he was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ mascot, the Pirate Parrot, before becoming a full-time, self-employed artist, commissioned for fine art as well as working with commercial clients.
In addition to his sports murals, some of his most successful commissions include “A Golden Retriever at the Museum,” a depiction of his dog, Lucas, staring at a still life painting of a tennis ball, a painting that Mosser said changed his life.
He’s sold nearly 400 prints of the “Museum Series” including 100 in the first five weeks after an image of the first painting went viral. Mosser donated $100 per print to charities including the Animal Rescue League. He has since created other iterations of the painting, including a pink tennis ball for breast cancer awareness.
Mosser has also left his mark in Pittsburgh, where he moved after graduating from Penn State University and growing up in Huntingdon. The mural “The Two Andys,” created in 2005 with Sarah Zeffiro and located on the side of a downtown building on Strawberry Way in Pittsburgh, is a playful reimagining of city icons Andy Warhol and Andrew Carnegie sitting side-by-side in a beauty salon under hair dryers while getting makeovers.
Mosser hopes his appearance at A & I will inspire artists as well as anyone else with ideas to pursue.
“It’s not a question of whether people have good ideas, it’s whether or not they act on them,” Mosser said. “You don’t have to make a living as an artist, but you can still have creative thinking in your life.”
About the Original:
Large heavy weight canvas. Each original is unique and signed by the artist. Watch Tom paint the lion
“The Lion’s Pride” is by photographer Steve Manuel. This photograph is offered in full color or black and white with color highlight options.
“The Lion’s Pride” is available in the following sizes: 8×12, 11×17,16×24, and 26×44.
Unframed images come in a white mat and are shrink wrapped for protection. The unframed 26×44 comes rolled in a tube. Each framed image includes double mats, glass, and your choice of a black, mahogany, cherry, or walnut frame.
***Please Note: Although we try to keep the Plak Mounts in stock they do sell quickly. If we are out, it does take 4-6 weeks for us to replenish our supply.***
Another moment in Penn State football history, the October 22, 2016 match-up with Ohio State. Previously unbeaten, Ohio State sustained their first loss of the season when the Nittany Lions blocked a field goal attempt, recovered and scored. PSU beat the Buckeyes 24-21 in Beaver Stadium during the forever famous “WhiteOut” of 2016.
All unframed photographs are matted and shrink wrapped ready to give to any PSU fan. Framed pieces are mounted, double matted, glassed and framed in your choice of Black, Cherry, Walnut or Mahogany wood finishes.
If this is a gift, we will gladly gift wrap it for you…no charge…no kidding.
“Lion Salute” is by photographer Steve Manuel.
“Lion Salute” is available in the following sizes: 8×12, 11×17,16×24, and 26×44.
Unframed images come in a white mat and are shrink wrapped for protection. The unframed 26×44 comes rolled in a tube. Each framed image includes double mats, glass, and your choice of a black, mahogany, cherry, or walnut frame.
***Please Note: Although we try to keep the Plak Mounts in stock they do sell quickly. If we are out, it does take 4-6 weeks for us to replenish our supply.***
Nittany Lion Mascot by Minimalist Artist S. Preston is a digital print enhanced on matte paper. All art posters measure 11×17 in size. Framing options are available in mahogany, walnut, black or cherry.
About the print:
The Nittany Lion traces its origins to 1907 graduate Harrison D. “Joe” Mason. Before a baseball game against Princeton in 1904, Mason and other members of the University’s baseball team were shown a statue of Princeton’s Bengal tiger, which the Princeton students claimed was “the fiercest beast of them all.”
In recalling the moment four decades later at the Nittany Lion Shrine dedication, Mason said, “An idea came to me, and I replied, ‘Well, up at Penn State we have Mount Nittany right on our campus, where rules the Nittany Mountain Lion, who has never been beaten in a fair fight.’”
In the coming decades, the Nittany Lion evolved to become “the symbol of Penn State’s best,” appearing not only at athletic events, but at celebrations, fundraisers and outreach efforts on campus and in the local community. In June of 2019, Penn State’s Nittany Lion was officially inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame on June 16 in Whiting, Indiana.
The Nittany Lion was one of four mascots enshrined over the weekend, including Tommy Hawk from the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawk, Benny the Bull from the National Basketball Association’s Chicago Bulls and Sluggerrr from Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals. (Courtesy: Penn State News)
As an artist, Tom Mosser is always looking around for ideas. In the alleyway dumpster near his studio a discarded tire became a paintbrush to get tread marks on his canvas.
“That’s how I ended up painting with balls,” said Mosser, a Pittsburgh-based painter and muralist whose work appears in sports venues across the country. “If you look around and ask, ‘How can I make art in a different way that hasn’t been done before?,’ you start rolling tires or balls across a canvas and you’re creating art.”
