School district partners with Elephant Parade to educate students, inspire art
By Jim Shilander
Two hundred elephants decorated by students from throughout the Capistrano Unified School District made their way to the district’s offices Friday along the way for the next step for their trip to Dana Point later this year.
The decorative elephants are part of the “Elephant Parade: Welcome to America” art exhibit and educational effort that will be in Dana Point in September. The event, which will place large, decorated elephant sculptures throughout the city for eight weeks, raises awareness of the plight of the Asian Elephant, and encourages conservation efforts. The event has been held in a number of other countries in Europe and Asia, will make its first appearance in America.
CUSD trustee Anna Bryson said she spoke with the founders of the event, father and son, Mike and Marc Spits, for several hours about bringing the event to the area. She said she was especially hopeful about the program since it combined both education and the arts.
“Their creativity just exploded,” Bryson said while looking around at the different elephants painted by 2,000 students from around the district at 14 different schools. “It’s so great that we are the first in the United States to do this. I’m ecstatic at the creativity of our students.”
One of those students was Tobi Martin, who just finished fourth grade at Wagon Wheel Elementary in Coto De Caza. Martin said he “just wanted to be creative,” with his elephant, and tried to bring along the influence from another of his creative outlets, origami.
The 200 elephants on display Friday were judged by Bryson and other CUSD staff members, and narrowed down to 50 finalists. A final winner will be determined this week.
Kent Baker, an art teacher at Capistrano Valley High School, then gets his hands on the design. Baker will turn the winning entry into a much larger, 6-foot version of the elephant that will go on display at the event and eventually be auctioned off, along with those designed by a number of famous musicians, fashion designers and actors. A portion of the funds from the winning bid will go to the design winner’s school. Baker said that after taking a look at the entries, he has his work cut out for him.
“I was shocked at the number and quality of the pieces,” Baker said. “Technically, I think they’re all doable. Some have more of a message, some are more creative.” Baker should have time to complete the project, since his deadline is mid-July, but he knows this project also carries a special challenge.
“I have never painted an elephant before,” Baker joked. “It’s a big canvas.”
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