The City of Raleigh Arts
Commission sponsored the most successful temporary public art
festival Raleigh has ever seen, the Raleigh Red Wolf
Ramble!
This was a family-focused,
temporary exhibit which opened in September 2001 and closed Mid
April 2002. The Raleigh Red Wolf Ramble (RRWR) generated unique
excitement and enthusiasm all over Raleigh because of the
whimsical, comical, imaginative visions of the artists involved.
The City Council endorsed the installation of sculptures on city
property and provided seed money, which was repaid through the very
successful wolf auction on April 5, 2002.
Over one hundred red wolves
were placed throughout the city in public parks, major pedestrian
thoroughfares, shopping centers, small businesses and downtown area
locations. Each fiberglass form provided a canvas which North
Carolina artists enhanced with paint and three-dimensional add-ons.
Artists were selected through an open call as well as an invitation
process.
Additional activities
surrounding the exhibit included an unveiling at a Red Wolf
Jamboree and Storytelling Festival (imagine the wolf's version of
the “Three Little Pigs”), a grand opening at the Street Painting
Festival, a howling, wolf sightings, radio contests, scavenger
hunts, an event linking wolf myths and Native Americans in November
(Native American month) and closing with the auction at the North
Carolina Museum of History. Many local art and nature organizations
joined in with co-celebrations of the R.R.W.R., including the
Contemporary Art Museum, Visual Art Exchange, First Night Raleigh,
People for Parks (peopleforparks@aol.com ), North Carolina State
University, and Meredith College. This was the most successful
public art exhibit Raleigh has ever seen!!
The red wolf was selected
because it is an endangered species special to North Carolina, is
an animal of character and has rich associations for story telling
and caricature. Many local organizations already have a connection
with the Red Wolf through the reintroduction effort. The US Fish
and Wildlife Service (visit link) monitors the critical
habitat for the Red Wolves in the Alligator River National Wildlife
Sanctuary (visit link) ;
the NC Zoo conducts an extensive educational and scientific program
(see their Red Wolf Web site at (visit link)
); The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
(visit
link) organizes a “howling,” and the Veterinary School of NCSU
provides special medical care for the wild Red Wolves. All of
Raleigh’s colleges and the Wake County Schools were involved in
this unique learning experience. Of the 125 wolves in the wild,
about 100 are in our state.
Unfortunately, like the real
Red Wolf, most of the art statues have disappeared when they were
auctioned or were vandalized, stolen or moved out of the public
view to protect them. As they are discovered again, we will post
additional caches to commemorate them. |