My Private Art Gallery (artists are animals)

[Darth Fanboy]

I know some of you are thinking "but Darth Fanboy you don't give a rat's ass about art unless it's them there cartoons on the TV". Well that's not entirely true. While it doesn't entirely thrill me to go to art galleries or to see paintings done by humans I am absolutely thrilled with the concept of animal art.

You see, animals in captivity get bored, and one of the ways Zoos help them be entertained is to provide animals with non toxic paints and a canvas. The animals get stimulation out of the deal and don't particularly care about keeping the painting afterward, which means the Zoo or the SZookeepers can sell them to help raise money for their facility or charity. FUN STUFF!

Anyway i've taken to collecting this art as a reminder of what animals are capable of and as a great example of enrichment in my own home. Plus, a handful of these animals are endangered species and sad as it may sound the paintings done by these animals serve as a lasting impression that these wonderful creatures walked the Earth.





Hanging these things was a chore and even with help I was not able to make the display 100% perfect, but that's fine because I anticipate moving within 2-3 years anyway and i'd rather not spend much more time when it's going to get taken down one day.

These paintings are collected from 7 different organizations and represent 19 different species, six of these species are considered endangered by the IUCN Red List and two of them are critically endangered (Sumatran Orangutan and Western
Lowland Gorilla).

[Ford Prefect]

Man, some of those are really cool. That's an interesting collection, Fanboy.

[Darth Fanboy]

This is a demo of the guide I have made up (sanctimonious perhaps but my memory is such I have a tough time reading details, and it's also good for insurance purposes i'm told to keep good records), i've actually spoken with one of the folks I work with at the Zoo who coordinates some special events and I might put some of these on a temporary exhibition this summer.

[loomer]

Any chance we could get a closer look at the Lynx and Bobcat work?

[Darth Fanboy]

Sure you can. It's behind glass now so the picture isn't as great as it could be.

This piece was a gift from my fiancee, the artists are from The Wildcat Sanctuary in Sandstone, Minnesota.

http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/residents/Morgan.htm
http://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/residents/Shalico.htm

TWS is one of my favorite causes to support whenever I can.

edit:

The reason that one has photos and a caption when the others don't is because that is how TWS sent it to me, normally I only get just the painted canvas so this was an extra treat.

[Darth Fanboy]

I have another wall I need to post pictures of, a second painting from an Asian Elephant plus new acquisitions: Amur Tiger, Amur Leopard, and Northern White Cheeked Gibbon. A third Elephant painting from Buffalo should arrive this week.

[Darth Fanboy]

Top center - Asian Elephant
Upper Left - Amur Tiger
Lower Left - Amur Leopard
Right - Northern White Cheeked Gibbon

The Elephant and Tiger artists are endangered, the leopard and gibbon are critically endangered. Thanks to the Erie Zoo for the lower three, and to my friends at Have Trunk Will Travel for the upper picture.

[Shroom Man 777]

Those are awesome. They remind me of this:



I wonder, do they know that they're painting other elephants, or are just trained to do so?

[Darth Fanboy]

those elephants are trained. Its not the same as enrichment.