Arts come to the zoo

zooarts032: Arts come to the zooAs if weather in the 80s, beautiful spring landscaping and the intrigue of observing 200 kinds of animals wasn’t enough, the California Living Museum (CALM) brought art to its visitors on March 29. The event was called Zoo Arts Day. CALM provided the venue. The Arts Council of Kern provided artists, dancers, actors and musicians.

Although the event was well publicized, Manager Debby Kroeger said the reaction by the 655 visitors was “surprise.” “About half the attendees didn’t know it was a special event until they walked through the gates and saw the variety of extra activities we had planned for them,” Kroeger said. “It definitely was an opportunity for families to experience the zoo in a different perspective.”

As visitors strolled the grounds, they were alternately entertained by Dart the black bear, Al Robbins Herpetological Center, birds of prey habitat exhibit and wandering docents displaying CALM’s ambassador animals for up close and personal inspections.

Then there were those whose express purpose was to entertain. David Nigil Lloyd and Max Valentino loaned their musical talents. Dancers Ephriam Penn and Jennifer Barber got children in step with a choreographed dance called “bird flight” to an eight- count beat. Actors Ronnie Hargrave and Tena Milburn called on children to perform impromptu sketches with them about animals and life situations.

As docent Rick Sanford showed families a tortoise, artist Christine McBride explained what kinds of shapes to use to draw it. Before long, dozens of pictures were being produced not only of tortoises but also of zoo favorite, Dart. Artist Brenda Williams patiently and enthusiastically helped plenty of children learn how to draw a black bear.

As docents kept bringing new animals for families to draw, a new child artist may have been discovered.

“Aaron Brimage barely moved from his spot all day,” said Kroeger. “A very patient mom sat with Aaron as he was thoroughly caught up in drawing the live and mounted animal subjects.”

For an update on other activities CALM has planned for the future, including a big two-day 20th birthday celebration on May 3-4, check out its website at http://www.calmzoo.org.
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