PandaMania / PandaPalooza in DC!!!!
Chris Ambidge
yesterday's Washington Post
as Leith and Robert and John, at least, will remember, we had moose
in Trawna a couple of summers ago. Pandas sound faaaabulous, of course.
RoJo:
http://www.geocities.com/chrisambidge/Coren_GintellAug2000.html
with PrideMoose and others
leith:
http://www.geocities.com/chrisambidge/panda_con.html
having a deep and meaningful encounter with LeatherMoose, as well
as with PrideMoose
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A623-2004Feb23.html
'PANDAMANIA,' WASHINGTON'S NEW SPECIES OF ART
By Jacqueline Trescott
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 24, 2004; Page C01
If everything goes as planned, artfully decorated pandas will be
prowling Washington's streets this spring.
Buoyed by the success of its "Party Animals" project two years
ago, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities yesterday
officially announced a colorful sequel. In 2002 the idea was to
cover elephants and donkeys, the symbols of the two major
political parties, with entertaining and whimsical designs.
This time it's the giant panda, an endangered species that has
fascinated Washingtonians since a pair of them were given to
President Nixon by the Chinese government in the early 1970s.
"PandaMania" will bring 150 panda statues -- some standing, some
seated and all painted in a variety of designs -- to public and
private spaces. As with the Party Animals, the pandas will
eventually be auctioned off to raise money for arts programs.
After word spread through the arts community in recent weeks,
1,200 artists or groups submitted drawings for consideration by
the commission.
"We are aiming to make the streets of Washington fun and
interesting and to bring art to people as they go through their
daily lives," said Anthony Gittens, executive director of the
arts commission. The displays of elephants and donkeys netted $1
million. "This is a win-win project," he said.
Gittens said pandas are easily recognizable and charismatic
animals. "They make for wonderful canvases, and they have
engaging images. They are funny," he said. The plastic sculptures
will be 41/2 to 51/2 feet tall.
After Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived at the National Zoo in
1972, they were quickly embraced by the public and became a prime
tourist attraction. People were fascinated by how they ate and
played, as well as their mating rituals. The pair never had a cub
that lived more than a few days. Ling-Ling, the female, died in
1992; Hsing-Hsing in 1999.
When Lawrence M. Small took over as secretary of the Smithsonian,
which runs the zoo, in January 2000, he said half-jokingly that
the one thing the public seemed to want most was pandas. By that
December the Chinese government agreed to lend Mei Xiang and Tian
Tian to the zoo for 10 years at a cost of $10 million.
The original Party Animals project was generally considered a
success, despite two well-publicized lawsuits and vandalism of
some of the 200 sculptures.
The D.C. Statehood Green Party sued the commission, saying the
party's symbol -- a sunflower -- deserved to be included in the
displays with the symbols of the Democratic and Republican
parties. The commission won that case.
An entry of a chained and weeping elephant submitted by People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was rejected by the
commission. PETA sued in federal court, and a judge ruled in the
group's favor. The weeping elephant was displayed for a month.
Gittens said the case is still on appeal.
In a later controversy, the commission outbid the competition for
nine of the statues and withheld others from auction, which
prompted some criticism. Gittens said those sculptures were
placed in public buildings.
The disputes didn't keep local residents and tourists from
tracking the locations of the animals and posing for pictures
with them. One was painted to resemble a field of cherry
blossoms, another a D.C. taxi, a third a typical tourist with a
camera. Yet another was done up as the Disney character Dumbo,
the elephant who learns how to fly, complete with aviator
glasses.
The money from the Party Animals auction was used for artist
grants and arts education projects. A "Panda Palooza" auction is
planned for this fall.
Di Stovall's "America the Beautiful" elephant, which was covered
with stars and stripes, fetched the highest bid in the 2002
auction -- $25,000. At the commission's request, she painted a
small prototype for this year's competition.
Stovall said that designs might be more fanciful than in 2002
because that competition came so soon after the Sept. 11, 2001,
tragedy. The earlier designs "had a lot of sentimental things
going on, and I think people will be freer with the pandas."
The artists will be selected by the commission by the end of
March and will receive a $1,500 stipend to paint their creations.
The Kaempfer Co., a developer, is providing working space in
Waterside Mall in Southwest Washington.
The finished pandas will be on display throughout the city from
May through September.
2004 The Washington Post Company
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ailuropoda melanoleuca torontonensis
doing the happypanda dance