Just when it seemed like
Potter Park Zoo was as fun as it could possibly be, the artists of
REACH Studio Art Center’s Teen Open Studio program found a way to make Lansing’s local zoo even better. Last week, Potter Park officials and REACH unveiled a new, eight-foot sculpture of a rhinoceros made by the teens themselves.
“Toward the end of REACH’s spring classes,” says Marketing Coordinator for Potter Park Zoo, Payal Ravani, “one of [REACH Outreach Coordinator Jeana-Dee Rogers’] students mentioned that it would be nice to do an art project at Potter Park Zoo. Jeana-Dee called me to see if it was something we would be interested in, and of course it was.”
The unique rhino sculpture was constructed by nearly 20 Lansing-area teens out of such materials as bicycle rims and tubes, polyurethane expanding foam, chicken wire, PVC pipe, ultracal and more.
“The zoo takes great pride in exhibiting art at Potter Park,” says Ravani. “It’s a natural fit, seeing as the park has plenty of space to offer and a captive audience nearly every day. Placemaking means creating spaces that people feel connected to, and we are proud that Potter Park is one of those places.”
The joint project between Potter Park Zoo and REACH was made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Lansing, Youth Action Committee of Capital Region Community Foundation, Lansing Economic Development Corporation, Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, Arts Council of Greater Lansing and the staff and volunteers of REACH Studio Art Center Community Art Projects.
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