September 21, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

AbZOOlutely on the Hill
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Samuel Butler, 5, of Mt. Airy, interacts with “Rainforest,” one of the many AbZOOlutely sculptures in Chestnut Hill. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Small clusters of pedestrians collected along Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike to admire the 48 colorfully adorned fiberglass animals that were unveiled at Saturday’s kick-off of Chestnut Hill’s AbZOOlutely public arts event.

At exactly noon, the sound of air horns, kazoos and the sirens of two fire engines from the Fire Department stations in Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy alerted volunteers to pull the beige tarps off of the multicolored animals, among them a gem-stone flamingo, swirly rainbow elephant, neon duck and photograph-covered bear.

Nine-year-old Morgan Brzozowski and her seven-year-old brother, Luke, tore off the tarp on one of AbZOOlutely’s largest animals, the huge rainbow elephant at Border’s Book Store at Bethlehem Pike and Germantown Avenue.

“It was hard to pull off the tarps,” said Morgan in her “cool” AbZOOlutely straw safari hat. “They were very heavy because there was water on them, but it was fun.”

Many of the tarp removers were children or other family and friends chosen by the sponsors. The artists spent part of the day standing next to their work and answering questions on the inspiration behind each piece.

Marianne Mitchell, a friend of Philadelphia Print Shop’s co-owner Christopher Lane, painted “Rosemary,” the pig, whose name and paint-job were a play on the word “season.”

“I approached the painting of the pig in the same manner as I approach a painting,” said Mitchell, who is a full-time artist from Lafayette Hill. “She was blank canvas.”

She said she “had a blast” painting Rosemary, named after the seasoning and painted in the colors of the four seasons.

“I was looking forward to this event,” she added, saying that it was “a great opportunity for Chestnut Hill to bring the spotlight to Chestnut Hill.”

And the spotlight was on Chestnut Hill, as the Chestnut Hill Business Association estimated that a few thousand visitors came to the Avenue to enjoy the festivities surrounding the unveiling of the animals.

Carl Houston of Northeast Philadelphia came to the Hill with his wife and two-year-old son David just for the event. As he passed the huge elephant in front of the Solaris Grille, named “Clousseau Rousseau,” Houston was taken aback by the artwork, seemingly inspired by the French artist Henri Rousseau and complete with a nude painted on the right ear.

“That elephant needs to be at the art museum or something,” Houston said of the animal painted by Patricia Ingersoll and Jack Ramsdale.

While most of the animals were painted, two artists took a different approach to their flamingos.

“Diamond Lil,” sponsored by the shops of the Chestnut Hill Community Centre, was lined with gems that were specially ordered from the West Coast, according to Bird-in-Hand’s Dottie Sheffield. The artist, Lisa Webb Howe, was chosen for her jewel work in the Philadelphia Flower Show, Sheffield said.

The flamingo “Legs,” decorated by Molly Ellis, owner of its sponsor BE Monogram, was fittingly covered with about 200 embroidered feathers. The idea, she said, came to her in the middle of the night.

“It was obvious, she needed feathers and I could make them,” said Ellis, adding that each feather took about an hour to make. She and BE employees sported embroidered “Team Legs” T-shirts on Saturday, in honor of their flamingo.

The polar bear “Seemore,” sponsored by the Eye Institute of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Mt. Airy, served both an aesthetic and functional purpose as a colorful animal and a bench. The artist and children’s book illustrator Rebecca McKillip Thornburgh of Chestnut Hill explained that the sponsor ordered it specially, and said she painted the bear to mimic a Where’s Waldo kind of adventure, with a lot of vision-themed illustration.

Unfortunately, two ducks needed mending before their unveiling, having been vandalized the evening before.

State and city officials also attended the unveiling ceremonies, gathering at the Solaris elephant. In attendance were Congressman Chaka Fattah, State Rep. Cherelle Parker, Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and Stuart Graham of Chestnut Hill, an assistant to Councilman Frank Rizzo.

The AbZOOlutely festivities continue next weekend with a visit from officials of the Philadelphia Zoo to Chestnut Hill, from noon to 3 p.m. The animals will remain on display until they are auctioned off Nov. 17, with the proceeds benefiting the Chestnut Hill Community Fund, the preservation and beautification of the Chestnut Hill District and The Philadelphia Zoo.

A full listing of AbZOOlutely events can be found online at www.abZOOlutelychestnuthill.org.

Contact staff writer Kristin Pazulski at 215-248-8819 or Kristin@chestnuthilllocal.com.