ELEPHANT ART NEWSLETTER
Happy New Year to you and yours from all of us at the Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project. We are excited about how far we have come, but realize how much work there still is to do. As we do look ahead however, we are reminded of all those that have helped us to support these very special animals. We are very grateful to you all.
2007 proved to be a very exciting year; with important travels, successful art exhibitions, a record number of sales, and perhaps most importantly, a good number of newborn elephants coming into the world – like this little guy who was recently born to mother, Chomanaad, at the Ayutthaya Royal Elephant Kraal in Thailand.
Support the AEACP just by searching the web or shopping online:
What if the Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!
GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!
GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall that donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Target, Gap, Best Buy, eBay, Macy's, and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop. Every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause.
Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter ‘AEACP’ as the charity you want to support. Also, please help to spread the word!
CURRENT EVENTS
ARNOLD WORLDWIDE
Arnold Worldwide, a US advertising agency, is currently exhibiting a collection of elephant artwork throughout their sprawling three-story office space on 5th Ave. in New York City. The paintings will be on display for two months beginning January 31st, 2008. To kick off this exhibit, David Ferris, AEACP director, gave a presentation on the elephants’ plight and their unique artistic talents.
EXHIBITION OF ELEPHANT ART IN ROME, ITALY
UPDATE: We are sorry to say that the Rome exhibition has been postponed until 2009. More information on the event to come.
This exciting event is scheduled to open in May at the Museo dei Bambini di Roma or “Museum of the Children”. The exhibition will run from May through September 2008. 40 paintings and 20 photos will be on display within this beautifully constructed building. The paintings will be auctioned off at the end of the evening with proceeds going to benefit both elephants and underprivileged children.
THE TRUNK SHOW : ELEPHANT ART FASHION SHOW
The Trunk Show is scheduled to take place during Spring Fashion Week in September 2008. In order to bring additional attention to the ongoing plight of the Asian Elephants, the Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project is organizing The Trunk Show, a charity fashion show designed to benefit the elephants. The event will feature garments created by top designers from fabric that has been painted on by our beloved elephant artists. The one-of-a-kind painted garments will then be auctioned off at the end of the evening with the money going toward elephant conservation. The Trunk Show is being held in New York City during Fashion Week, September 2008.
Please help us to make this event happen. New and exciting events such as this help to spark the imagination, increase the public’s awareness, and generate much-needed dollars for conservation. The total cost of putting this event together is $30,000 USD. We are currently seeking donations for as little or as much as you can spare toward this amount.
For your efforts, in addition to the satisfaction of helping to benefit the elephants in the first ever charity event of its kind, we will include your name and/or that of your company in our mailings, on our website, at the event, and in any related press. Also, unlike the direct purchase of the paintings, any donation for this event is tax-deductible.
Please contact us if you are interested in being a part of this momentous occasion. Sponsor proposals and donor benefits available upon request. Please write to dferris@elephantart.com or phone us at 212.625.0939.
ELEPHANT NEWS
Ayutthaya Royal Elephant Kraal and Village, AYUTTHAYA, THAILAND
- A note from our liaison at the Kraal, Ewa Narkeiwicz:
“…money raised from sales is going to build a new nursery and sponsor a baby elephant. In addition, we have just got two more old elephants and also another old female that had killed someone. We won’t be using her in our program, but it is good that the owner heard of our place and sent her here rather than having her shot.”
You can find our more about the Kraal and it’s program for retired elephants on the LOCATION page of our website.
Kandang Gajah Camp, BOROBUDUR, CENTRAL JAVA, INDONESIA
- A note from liaison, Sean Flakelar, in Central Java, Indonesia.
“There have been some great improvements with the elephant lodgings, Taman Wisata after much negotiation have built a roof to cover the whole compound to give the elephants more shade and protect them from the heavy rains. They have also improved the drainage, concreted the whole flooring, placed a wider fence around the initial living area which now allows the elephants to roam free, play more in the pool, etc. The health of all the elephants from my observation are quite good, Sela eye will need a cataract operation at some stage but apart from that is in good spirits and looks really happy.
We will also be sending you a full report of the three Mahouts who were sponsored by AEACP to travel to Sumatra last December. The objective was to receive special training in Sumatra to develop there skills and increase there elephant husbandry knowledge, it was well received by each Mahout who were very happy to learn more about how to handle and train the elephants especially in a natural environment like in the Sumatra. I feel they benefited a great deal and all came back very enthusiastic and more open minded when discussing new ideas.
All in all, elephants, artists, and Mahouts are all well and send there best regards to you and to everyone involved in the Elephant Art Project around the world.”
You can find our more about this camp on the LOCATION page of our website.
PRESS
A radio interview with AEACP director, David Ferris, aired on Sierra Club Radio on Saturday, January 26th. You can listen to the segment at:
http://www.sierraclubradio.org/programs/scr-2008-01-26.mp3
The AEACP has also recently been featured in segments on Voice of America, and Channel Five in the UK. The latter in a piece entitled Extraordinary Animals.
In addition, there have been recent articles published about the organization in the Washington Post, The Virginian Pilot, The Virginian Gazette, and the Williamsburg Magazine.
CONTACT AND DONATIONS
If you have any questions about the above information or would like to make a donation, please feel free to give us a ring at 212.625.0939 or email at dferris@elephantart.com.
David Ferris
Director
Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project / The Trunk Show
www.elephantart.com
dferris@elephantart.com
T: 212.625.0939
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