| Excerpt from PARTY ANIMALS: Washington, DC
The Unexpected and the Beautiful The Party Animals public art project was launched by Mrs. Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States, and Anthony Williams, Mayor of the District of Columbia on April 23rd, 2002. The event received over 200 national media mentions that day alone from major media such as The Washington Post, CNN and NBC-TV’s Today Show. But most importantly, Washingtonians began rounding the corners of downtown streets, emerging from Metro entrances and stepping out of their homes and offices to unexpectedly discover a herd of striking and strangely endearing animal sculptures. Evolution of Party Animals Tony Gittens, Executive Director, DC Commis-sion on the Arts and Humanities, identified the funding and secured the approval of the Arts Commission Board to move forward with the challenging public art project. We needed to identify the icon true to Washing-ton’s character and essence. The Commis-sion considered pandas, eagles, and even squirrels. Once we arrived at donkeys and elephants, there was immediate consensus: that’s Washington, DC! DC Arts Commis-sion Chair, Dorothy McSweeny, suggested the title Party Animals, and began raising scores of Party Animal sponsorships to engage the support and partnership of businesses, foundations and city and federal governments. We first planned to present a donkey and an elephant together as a single sculpture, their arms around each other in a lighthearted gesture of political cooperation. But Lou Stovall, artist and Vice Chairman of the DC Arts Commission, pushed to focus on molding the four-legged creatures apart and in a more generic form. Stovall passionately explained that the artists would require a smooth, broad canvas on which to do their best work. In our role as the nation’s capital and as a world leader, we invited artists from national and international communities to participate. We sent 10,000 invitations and received over twelve hundred submissions. We were not looking for political statements; we were looking for fine public art. Artists were drawn to the challenge and fun of the project, and we received many beautiful, clever, and imaginative designs. We were astounded by the diversity of visions that the contest inspired. From the moment the animals arrived by truck in February, everyone pitched in with donations of equipment, assistance, and support. Alexandra McMaster, assisted by Samantha Lane, managed project logistics. Greenfield-Belser designed the perfect logo, an elephant and donkey dancing in the spotlight. Fleishman Hillard became our public relations firm and media coach. And the artists went to work... Community As Usual We were all enthusiastic about the importance of Party Animals being a community project. But where would we stable 100 donkey and 100 elephant sculptures while the artists worked? Douglas Jemal, of Douglas Development Corporation and lover of art and history, stepped forward to offer the Woodward and Lothrop Department Store Building (“Woodies”), which is awaiting its turn to be refurbished, rehabilitated, and returned as the flagship of downtown Washington. Woodies became the perfect studio space for nearly two hundred artists. Because Woodies is a converted department store, not an engineered “studio space,” we had some basic challenges like heat, lighting, water and weak elevators. Everyone had to help out in order for it to work, and it did work. The level of enthusiasm was incredible. Artists were excited about getting to work and working together. Over the course of the Party Animals project, artists at Woodies lived the entire arc of an artist’s life in just a few weeks—they went from the cold of winter to the heat of summer, from low light to intense, direct sunlight. Visual artists tend to work apart from each other, but a project like Party Animals allows them to share ideas, techniques, and friendships. Many area artists met for the first time, and they met artists from around the country and abroad. Even those artists who worked at home in their own studios came to Woodies often so they could participate with the community. For the artists, this was “better than art school”—a room full of other artists from whom they could borrow paint, supplies, get support, exchange ideas and technical assistance. In addition to local, national and international artists, children in the Washington, DC area contributed to the project. Sponsored by the Canadian Embassy, students at the Smothers School, a public school in Northeast Washington, designed and painted a donkey and an elephant. Everyone at the school—the principal, custodial staff, teachers, and students, all helped to bring the animals into the school. Their animals were painted in the Auditorium/Dining Hall. Children at the Lombardi Cancer Center, who are in treatment at the pediatric cancer facility, created a “Wish Elephant”—children drew and wrote wishes on tiles, which were then arranged in a mosaic on the elephant. The Pataspco School in Baltimore designed the “Periodic Table of Elephants,” which the students painted with inventive puns and images for the real elements on the Periodic Table. Crabtree + Company sponsored the elephant and the American Chemical Society plans to buy it at auction to develop as an educational tool. Other schools which participated and played an important role for their communities were Lake Anne Elementary, Community of Hope, Banneker High School, P.G. Home Learning Network and Friends, and Rutledge Home School. We made many discoveries, connec-tions, and friends throughout this process. Washington, DC is a uniquely complicated intersection of federal, municipal and international governments; businesses and cultural organizations; universities and labor associations; residents and visiting tourists. As we launched Party Animals, we discovered, or rediscovered, the desire among people in this city to contribute and participate in a project that was about fun, creativity, and goodwill. Party Animals built bridges. Diverse groups such as, The Metropolitan Transit Authority, The Department of Public Works, The Department of Transportation, Clark Construction Company, Douglas Development Corporation, international embassies, The National Park Service, Hecht’s, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, Fannie Mae, McCormick and Schmick restaurants, hotels, caterers, law firms, businesses and many other organizations concurrently contributed their time, services, and energy. The DC Arts Commission board and staff provided endless hours of hard work and good cheer. Many people expressed their love and devotion to this city through their commitment to this project. Artists—and others in Washington—love this city and take advantage of any opportunity to make a contribution to the community. We wanted to place the sculptures in every part of the city, not just in the tourist or commercial districts. Michael McBride of the Metropolitan Transit Authority led the Party Animals staff in studying maps and determining the most appropriate sites. Sculptures were placed in every sector of Washington. Because thousands of people pass by Metro entrances every day, Metro stations became prime locations. In addition to working with Metro, we worked closely with businesses, and institutions of all kinds. The diplomatic community also asked to be involved, and elephants and donkeys were sighted in front of the British, Turkish, Canadian, and Swiss Embassies. Politics As Usual Just as the donkeys and elephants may be considered true reflections of Washington’s historical political nature, so too was the range of reactions to the Party Animals. In addition the public displays of enthusiasm, generosity, public service, devotion to community, and hard work (all of which are fundamental Washingtonian traits), the Party Animals became fodder for classic Washingtonian power plays. In other words, we were sued. Two weeks prior to the Party Animals hitting the streets, the Green Party sought a temporary injunction against the project, arguing that the project promoted the two-party system and excluded them unjustifiably. The Arts Commission pointed out that this was an arts project, not a political one, and the case was dismissed. A second lawsuit was filed by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) because the Commission had rejected their submitted design of a brutalized circus elephant. The Arts Commission determined the PETA submission was a single-issue billboard and not up to the artistic standards of the competition. And more lighthearted controversy was reported. There was some question as to whether the donkey had a donkey’s tail, or a mule’s tail. A journalist even went to a local farm to make a live animal comparison of donkeys and mules. The artist who designed the original says she knew the difference between a mule’s tail and donkey’s tail. We at the Arts Commission were apprised early on that any fabricator of animals would take artistic license wherever possible, especially with a tail. It was always our view that these donkey and elephant sculptures were symbols of the political life dominating this city. But our purpose was not politically inspired. The sculptures are rounded, full canvasses upon which the artists have expressed themselves. Party Animals was about having a passion for art, not politics. Why Public Art Matters As public art, Party Animals defied expectations, surprising people into seeing something familiar while feeling something new. In our culture, we expect art to be housed in places apart from our daily lives, usually in our museums and galleries. But this has not always been the case—the routines of public life have often encompassed fine art. Such common objects as the Sistine Chapel, Japanese ceramic cups and bowls, bronze religious objects in Africa, to name only a few, became fine art and people relied on them to improve and enrich their daily lives. People in a city tend to forget how much the beautiful and unexpected mean to them. It is important for urban residents and visitors to be drawn out, pleasantly startled out of the routines of city life. It is an experience that instantaneously reorders one’s perspective on art, the city, and fellow citizens, and it forces a new engagement with all three. Party Animals has done all that we hoped for and more. For six months, they were a major part of Washington’s cultural infrastructure. They have contributed to a renewed tourist interest in Washington, which, like many cities, suffered a serious downturn after the terrorist attacks on September 11th. The Party Animals helped to draw visitors back into downtown Washington and out into neighborhoods. Whole families could be observed, maps in hand, searching for the donkeys and elephants around the city. We hope that you were among the many who accepted Mrs. Laura Bush’s invitation to, “take a Party Animals safari.” The Party Animals caused strangers to stop and talk about art. Consequently, the project created a public conversation about art—what it means and why it matters. Party Animals exhibited the abundance of artistic creative talent and energy. The Party Animals public art project showed the rest of the world what Washingtonians have always known: this city’s greatest riches are the imagination, resilience, devotion, generosity, and optimism of its people. Art in public places prompts the discovery of an appetite for the whimsical among the mundane. Beauty and art can change our urban environments. Art can surprise us out of our routine pursuits. It moves us to speak to strangers about our ideas and perceptions of our shared world. People are pleased to discover that, at root, artists have the same way of thinking about things as they do. All of us move easily from the political to the comic, from the aesthetic to the analytical. During the exhibition, the vitality of our city increased. The city felt livelier, friendlier, and more engaged with its citizens and visitors. Beyond the temporary delight which the Party Animals gave, the exhibition continues to enrich Washington’s art community. The much-needed funds raised when the sculptures were auctioned were invested back into the DC Arts Commission to fund artist’s grants and arts education projects. This display of our artistic diversity and human cooperative spirit tipped the DC arts scene into a broader realm of appreciation and recognition. Party Animals was an expression of diligence, accomplishment, contribution and, ultimately, love for the city in which we live. Dorothy Pierce McSweeny, Chair |