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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.
Please be mindful of your surroundings and the limited parking in the area. Most parking spaces are reserved and towing is strictly enforced. (I got more than one ticket as a student here years ago.)
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