EDITORIAL: Mixing paint, animals and noble missions
An unusual exhibit involving local artists opened at the Croft Art Gallery in downtown Waco last week. Some of the artists couldn’t fit through the door to the invitation-only event and so had to sit it out.
But that’s what you get when you enlist as painters a selection of animals from Cameron Park Zoo ranging from raccoons to rhinos to orangutans.
The year’s still young, but we’re betting that this ranks as the most unusual art exhibit of 2010. Best of all, it’s a fundraiser for the Cameron Park Zoo Conservation Fund which, like many worthy organizations, is working all the harder to raise money during these difficult economic times.
Some of the works on view at the gallery are by zoo animals, some by artists inspired by the animals there and some are actual collaborations. One of our favorite works is “American Flag” which is credited to local civic leader Holt Getterman and zoo elephants Tembo and Tanya.
To his credit, Getterman credited the elephants with most of the creativity.
Clara Dutton, a 23-year-old painter long fascinated by elephants as subjects, did a centerpiece, “The Ark,” in what appeared to be a triptych; Tembo and Tanya contributed the flanking works. Local attorney Abel Reyna bought the $800 Dutton work before a Trib editorial board member could grab it. Reyna said his purchase had nothing to do with the fact he’s a Republican candidate.
Other works that impressed us mightily: a vivid expressionist piece by Joseph Drew inspired by the skin textures of the zoo’s Komodo dragon, Neoma. And Julie, a giraffe born with a congenital foot defect, enjoyed the therapeutic release of using non-toxic paint on her upper lip to paint “Hay and Leaves” in distinctly Baylor colors.
The show is further proof of the wide variety of cultural offerings in downtown Waco, even in the shadow of the recently closed Hippodrome Theatre. It’s also another striking display of originality in the realm of fund-raising, something that seemed to bring out the very best in the artists — even those who had to skip the formal opening.
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