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NOTE: Be kind during your
search!
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. The difficulty is
for the high probability of muggles in the area as you
search.
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