Art in zoos

J

Jurek7

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
What examples you know of art pieces in zoos?

For example, Berlin Tierpark has many sculptures, some coming from the time when it was a castle park. At Vogelpark Walsrode, in the gift shop there were metal bird sculptures for sale. Probably some local artist put sculptures on display with some form of dividing the money with the zoo. Other zoos theme themselves as mass entertainment, so instead of an art piece one could rather see a fake skeleton in a piranha tank.

I think art can be interesting from several points. It can help the image of a zoo as a serious cultural institution and help secure big donations, a favorable look of authorities and silence zoo critics. It can help to educate visitors. It can also raise interest in a particular animal species shown in the art.
 
The now-closed Invertebrate House at the National Zoo in DC had a decent collection of invertebrate-themed art. At the time, the zoo was committed to its "BioPark" principle, with the director wanting a facility that combined a zoo, aquarium, natural history museum, botanic garden, and elements of an art museum.

Salisbury Zoo recently hosted a temporary sculpture garden featuring works from Salisbury University students. I've seen other zoos do similar events as a seasonal draw.

A decent number of zoos have displays of cultural artifacts, including art, to compliment exhibits. One of the best examples I can think of is St. Augustine Alligator Farm, which has a small museum's worth of cultural materials from New Guinea in it's "Gomek Forever" building.
 
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