By Andrea Papagianis
For the last two months Dana Point’s landscape has been sprinkled with colorful art in the form of baby elephant sculptures, and in just two weeks the full Elephant Parade herd will join together for a final farewell at Lantern Bay Park.
This is the first time the Elephant Parade, an open-air art exhibition that benefits The Asian Elephant Foundation, which has made international stops in London, Singapore and Amsterdam, among others since 2006, has been featured in America.
The foundation traces its roots to an elephant refuge and hospital in Thailand, where founder Marc Spitz met an injured elephant, named Mosha. The young elephant had stepped on a landmine and lost a portion of her leg. With the need for a prosthetic to survive, Spits took action. He formed the foundation and through Elephant Parade exhibits and auctions has raised more than $6 million to date.
Mosha quickly became the foundation’s star—which her name means in the tribal Karen language—as its reach across the globe to educate the public on the Asian elephant’s plight spread. Now, as the parade’s time in Dana Point winds down, residents and visitors have a few opportunities left to view the visiting sculptures and take a piece of the show home.
On Tuesday, November 12 the Elephant Parade: Welcome to America herd will be reunited at Lantern Bay Park, located at 25111 Park Lantern Road, for a series of events featuring talks by contributing artists and environmental conservationists.
Replica sculptures are available for purchase at www.mydanapoint.com/elephants, and the full-sized pieces of work will be auctioned off on Sunday, November 17 at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa. More information about the auction is available by emailing, auction@elephantparade.com.
ELEPHANT: “We Love Mosha”
ARTIST: Thiti Suwan
LOCATION: OC Dana Point Harbor entrance, located at Dana Point Harbor Drive and Street of the Golden Lantern
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