'Ibis' by Evan Reed -- The Capitol Hill Alphabet Animals 2nd and I Streets SE Washington (DC) January 2022
Per The Washington Post July 23, 2021:
The Capitol Hill Alphabet Animals are 20 public sculptures scattered throughout Capitol Hill and surrounding neighborhoods, mounted on lights and street signs.
The project was the brainchild of Stephen Young, a Capitol Hill resident who taught his daughters the alphabet by reading street signs: 'This is D Street. D is for Dog.'
Young approached the nonprofit Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) with an idea for mnemonic animal signs. CHAW then selected 20 artists to make 10 animals come to life, with only a couple of restrictions: the sculptures had to weigh seven pounds or less and had to be able to withstand the elements.
The first animals were installed on 2014.
Five years later, CHAW received a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to create 10 more animals, which were installed by late summer 2020..
One observer notes that what makes the series of 20 animals compelling is the scavenger hunt-like nature of the setting out to find them, and discovering parks and architecture along the way.
Per Evan Reed in the Post's July 23, 2021 article,
"To make this ibis, I actually scheduled a visit to the natural history museum to look at stuffed specimens in their archives. I photographed and sketched on-site as much as possible, so I could get a grasp of the form.
Translating the 2-D information into 3-D is a little bit of a challenge, but having the firsthand observation internalized made it a little easier to transition.
For the Ibis, I used old automobile license plates to sculpt the form. They are all plates from states that are street names in that neighborhood, and D.C.plates also."
DSC3982 V1
'Ibis' by Evan Reed -- The Capitol Hill Alphabet Animals 2nd and I Streets SE Washington (DC) January 2022
Per The Washington Post July 23, 2021:
The Capitol Hill Alphabet Animals are 20 public sculptures scattered throughout Capitol Hill and surrounding neighborhoods, mounted on lights and street signs.
The project was the brainchild of Stephen Young, a Capitol Hill resident who taught his daughters the alphabet by reading street signs: 'This is D Street. D is for Dog.'
Young approached the nonprofit Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) with an idea for mnemonic animal signs. CHAW then selected 20 artists to make 10 animals come to life, with only a couple of restrictions: the sculptures had to weigh seven pounds or less and had to be able to withstand the elements.
The first animals were installed on 2014.
Five years later, CHAW received a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities to create 10 more animals, which were installed by late summer 2020..
One observer notes that what makes the series of 20 animals compelling is the scavenger hunt-like nature of the setting out to find them, and discovering parks and architecture along the way.
Per Evan Reed in the Post's July 23, 2021 article,
"To make this ibis, I actually scheduled a visit to the natural history museum to look at stuffed specimens in their archives. I photographed and sketched on-site as much as possible, so I could get a grasp of the form.
Translating the 2-D information into 3-D is a little bit of a challenge, but having the firsthand observation internalized made it a little easier to transition.
For the Ibis, I used old automobile license plates to sculpt the form. They are all plates from states that are street names in that neighborhood, and D.C.plates also."
DSC3982 V1