Painted Fiberglass Animals as Public Art

On a visit to the Cayman Islands, we saw these painted iguanas on various beaches. It brought to mind the proliferation of painted animals as public art that takes place in cities around the world. In most cases, these art projects are done to bring awareness to a cause, with local artists asked to paint and decorate them. They are then publicly displayed for a period of time, and then auctioned off, with the proceeds going to charity. Supposedly, the idea for such a project originated in Zurich in 1998, when a group of painted cows were displayed, which evolved into the "Cow Parade," which has taken place in numerous cities.

So what's the story with these iguanas in Grand Cayman? The Blue Iguana, which is native to the area, is an endangered species, and so this project is meant to bring attention to the preservation of this animal. Sponsors were found to make 15 fiberglass iguanas, local artists were asked to paint them, and they have been placed at 15 different sites around the Cayman Islands. Here are a few of the iguanas that we saw.        

Next up, we've got the bears of Hendersonville, North Carolina. Started in 2003, this project was titled "Bearfootin’" and was created to raise money for local charities, while displaying colorful artwork along the downtown sidewalks. Bearfootin' is now an annual event, with new bears put on display in April and they stay up through October. The 12 bears that were on display in 2010 were later sold at auction and raised over $22,000 for needy local charities.

The selection of a bear as the animal of choice here reflects the plight of the black bear in the region. Once plentiful in the mountains throughout western North Carolina, the animal is now endangered due to loss of habitat, unlicensed trophy hunting, poaching, and vehicle fatalities.

While we don't have personal photographs of a cow parade, since we mentioned it in the opening paragraph, we figured we'd show some examples of this genre.

The "Cow Parade" was such a popular and successful concept that it created a whole series of spin-off concepts, including the following: "Wild Salmon on Parade" in Anchorage, Alaska; "Moosefest" in Bennington, Vermont; "Miles of Mules" in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; "Ducks on Parade" in Eugene, Oregon; "Rooster Walk" in Miami, Florida; "Horses on Parade" in Rochester, New York; "Salmon in the City" in Salem, Oregon; "Pigs on Parade" in Seattle, Washington, and "Moose in the City," in Toronto, Ontario. My question is - who is buying all of these painted animals???