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Dr. Doolittle talked with the animals. He also walked with the animals. But leave it to the Denver Zoo to paint with the animals.
As part of Denver Arts Week, November 6 through 14, visitors can watch the zoo’s two elephants, Mimi and Dolly, paint with their trunks every day at 11:30 a.m. Both elephants are experienced painters, but the exercise is particularly good for Dolly, who has some paralysis in her trunk and uses painting to help strengthen it, says zoo spokeswoman Tiffany Barnhart. “We only do this a couple times a year, so it is pretty special,” Barnhart adds. “Although it is enriching for the elephants, there are a lot of other more natural behaviors they practice throughout the year.”
Some previous work (abstracts done with oils on canvas) is already available in an online auction at the zoo’s website, along with work by macaws Azul and Nuba, gorillas Charlie and Curtis, rhino Mishindi, and orangutans Robin and Sally, among others.
