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 as they were either auctioned to raise money 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.
The cache you seek is a 35mm hidden in a typical way. Please
stay out of the flowers and off the artwork.