Where Creation Meets Conservation

Homer Junior High School’s Animal Sculptures on Exhibit Now!

Guests of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo have the exciting chance to view exclusive artwork created by 31 eighth-grade students at Homer Junior High School. The students’ exhibit, comprised of eight unique animal-themed multi-media sculptures, is currently on display now through June at the Animal Health Center. Homer Junior High School Art Educator Brookley Abbate facilitated the project. The Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo is always honored to have the opportunity to partner with our community’s students, especially when we can help encourage young local artists to bridge wildlife conservation with artistic expression by offering a display space for their exhibit. 

Abbate happily shared, “It’s wonderful to be able to see [the students’] work bring a positive impact to a public space.” She beamed with pride for her students. “This is the first time we’ve been able to share our work this far beyond our classroom. I’ve been teaching for nineteen years, and the kids never fail to surprise me with what they create when they put their brains together. Exhibiting their work at the zoo gives them and the community the chance to see all they’ve accomplished.”  

Each sculpture depicts a different species of animal’s head. Some of the featured animals include an elephant, wolf, leopard, fox, and others. Designed to hang on a wall, the sculptures are approximately 3ft tall and comprised of cardboard, paper, hot glue, and gold spray paint. Working in small groups of 3-4, students crafted their pieces to shape striking expressions and physiological details for each sculpture. Viewers will notice, for example, that The Ultimate Alpha Wolf sports a jagged scar over the right eye. Likewise, the fur of The Bison… I Guess? is cut in small, rounded layers to resemble the massive animal’s thick coat.  

When students were asked where they wanted to display the work, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo was their first choice. “It’s cool that so many people will get a chance to see it at the zoo,” exclaimed student-artist Avery Petrella.  

“I think at the zoo, it feels different to look at [the sculptures] because you’re surrounded by animals,” explained student-artist Cooper Sinclair. “Plus, we put so much work into it.”  

The students report that their projects took months of hard work, including researching the animals, sketching drafts, learning different art techniques to execute their visions, and performing careful physical labor to put the sculptures together. Many of the students noted how patient they had to be as they created their sculptures’ skeletal structures with paper mâché, cutting many geometric shapes to imbue their art with texture, and even using trial-and-error to figure out proportions, facial expressions, and overall depth of their pieces.  

Student-artist Capri O’Gorman noted that the intricate details of the sculptures aim to give viewers the chance to experience physiological features of the animals, offering an up-close-and-personal perspective of animals that people typically would not be able to access. “I hope people can see how beautiful our fox is and how all wildlife is.”  

The project was as much an artistic endeavor as it was an endeavor rooted in collaboration and teamwork. “We brainstormed a lot together to figure out the face shape and to explore a lot of different options,” student-artist Annie McLaughlin summarized.  

Through debate, communication, and ideation, the groups each decided which animal their sculptures would feature and how to best capture their visions together. For instance, student-artist Teagan O’Shea recalled that the four members of the Iris group talked a lot about having their elephant hold something in the trunk, which shows the dexterity of the animal. The group decided on a small bouquet of flowers.  

In addition to emphasizing the importance of group work, the project provided ample opportunity for students to take individual responsibility. All eight groups organized the workload by taking on certain roles at different stages of completion. For example, the group of student artists who created Very Realistic Taxidermy Leopard each performed a designated job: Dallas Schute cut much of the cardboard, Alyssa Brown crafted the detailed facial features, Elani Ferris handled the overall structural work of the leopard, and Brennan Wallace designed the face.  

Additionally, students came up with creative titles for their pieces together. Although titling a piece might seem like a small part of their projects, selecting titles proved to be a powerful act of asserting autotomy over their work. “We really wanted a name that would stand out and capture people’s attention,” said student-artist Mekhi Myles. “McLovin THE Gorilla is unique.”  

According to student-artist Iker de la Torre Galvan, who also worked on McLovin THE Gorilla, “We hope people see the name and then stop to look and recognize all the details we put into our gorilla.”  

Student-artist Thomas Finn similarly added, “I hope when people look at our sculpture, they feel inspired to do something like that, too. Maybe they’ll see something in our wolf they’ve never seen before.” 

Laurel Bennett, a student-artist who worked on Iris, echoed those sentiments. “Seeing it all come to life was my favorite part. We get to say, ‘we did that,’ and maybe people will also realize they can make art, too.” 

Since the exhibit’s opening, many guests have, indeed, stopped to view and to admire the art. “The Rosamond Gifford Zoo is the perfect home for the students’ exhibit,” confirmed Andrew Brazill, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Friends of the Zoo. He praised the young artists’ choice to use their creativity and talents to spotlight animals. “We invite our many guests to admire the exhibit during their visits and to experience art’s power to inspire us all to love wildlife.”  

The Friends of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo would like to extend deep gratitude to Brookley Abbate for orchestrating the project and the following Homer Junior High School student-artists for sharing their talents with our zoo family: Kaden Bush, Thomas Finn, Miles Franco, Markis Kida, Laurel Bennett, Avi Benjamin, Andrew Kline, Teagan O’Shea, Madelyn Ewanciw, Eisley Fox, Annie Laughlin, Anabel Vormwald, Alyssa Brown, Elani Ferris, Dallas Schute, Brennan Wallace, Violet Nye, Avery Petrella, Elle Roskos, Bernice Spanbauer, Lia Clark, Capri O’Gorman, Chanel Stage, Iker de la Torre Galvan, Jaxon Fellows, Brehanna Larrabee, Mekhi Myles, Abby Aldrich, Mackenzie Robbins, Cooper Sinclair, and Levi Stiles.