Seal sang in the name of love and joy on Aug. 31 at Hudson Yards.
The Grammy-winning artist joined world-renowned contemporary artist Brendan Murphy for day that was dedicated to the on-going incredible efforts of The Person First organization.
Alongside Murphy’s striking 12-foot LOVE MATTERS…Everywhere: The Loehr Bear – which was dedicated to The Person First, a nonprofit focused on youth mental health, resilience and helping young people develop the tools to thrive – Seal sang his heart out to a captivated audience at the landmark outdoor space.
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 31 Artist, Brendan Murphy, Seal and Gordon Uehling III, co-founder of The Person First pictured as GRAMMY-winning artist Seal visits Brendan Murphy’s 12-ft LOVE MATTERS…Everywhere: The Loehr Bear, which was dedicated to The Person First, a nonprofit focused on youth mental health, resilience and helping young people develop the tools to thrive on August 31, 2026. Credit: MediaPunch for The Person First
Together in unison with the crowd singing along, a beautiful tribute was made to Dr. Loehr by Seal, an active board member of The Person First. The serenade of “Stand By Me” in front of the larger-than-life bear made the audience blissfully teary eyed when they understood the powerful impact of the day.
The special gathering honored the late renowned performance psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr, who co-founded The Person First with Gordon Uehling III and whose life was dedicated to making the world a better place for all.
“Today we officially dedicated with Seal’s help The Loehr Bear, named after Dr. Jim Loehr,” said Murphy. “Jim was a mentor of mine amongst probably who knows how many million people he’s helped and touched. We lost Jim a few months ago…. Jim’s whole thing was – especially as it applies to young people – mind, spirit, physical, and finding your place in life. Once you do that, you can become someone who shares love. So it really tied in well with the love matters theme. I’m honored and I know Jim’s looking down.”
The artist then explained the special placement of the of the art in the square and what it carried on a day like this.
“This is the first piece where you have literally millions of people have have come by, taken photos, and posted it. We put up a sign with a QR code that they’re able to share a message of love. We’ve had over 3,000 messages, so I’m blown away because I tend to spend most of my time in the studio. I sell my work normally to private collections. This is different. This was really special. And then to tie in with Dr. Loehr and and all these people here that are family and friends of mine is awesome. Yeah, no, it’s kind of the perfect. It doesn’t usually come together like this.”
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 31: Jonah Marais and Zia Victoria, daughter and son in law of Gordon Uehling III pictured as GRAMMY-winning artist Seal visits Brendan Murphy’s 12-ft LOVE MATTERS…Everywhere: The Loehr Bear, which was dedicated to The Person First, a nonprofit focused on youth mental health, resilience and helping young people develop the tools to thrive. Credit: MediaPunch
Gordon was joined by his daughter Zia Victoria and her husband Jonah Marais. Zia and Jonah are both solo artists and mentees of Dr. Loehr. Also in attendance was Murphy, whose LOVE MATTERS…Everywhere: The Loehr Bear serves as a larger-than-life reminder of the message at the heart of the moment. In ultimate harmony, this was a day for the happy history books.
