New Elephant Sculptures Outside the Zoo

Have you seen the new elephants? Five lively elephant sculptures stand outside Druid Hill Park to encourage slower traffic and beautify the area. Unveiled on June 11, 2014, you can spot them around the intersection of McCullough Street and Liberty Heights Avenue, just outside the Zoo.

These scenic pieces were the design and creation of local artist Barbara Thompson, and ARTblocks, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help communities transform their neighborhood spaces through their own original ideas and art making. A big part of this project was the ideas and input from The Greater Mondawmin Community Association, New Auchentoroly Terrace Community Association, Westside Elementary School students and the local community. The sculptures are painted on one side, and decorated with recycled materials like traffic signs, gears and hubcaps on the other.

This unique ARTblocks project was supported in part by a grant from the Zoo, the 2012 PNC Transformative Art Prize from the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, generous donors, and other local businesses.