ROYAL OAK, Mich., April 26, 2007 – The Detroit Zoo will unveil its latest art exhibition on May 8 when Art of the Rainforest debuts at the Exhibit Gallery of the Ford Education Center. 

Featuring the works of 11 artists from throughout the United States who specialize in rainforest subject matter, the exhibition includes about 50 paintings and 15 sculptures that illuminate the diversity of life in the world’s richest ecosystem.  Each piece tells a story of rainforest life, providing insight into how the dynamics of the rainforest are essential to the overall health of the planet.

The Amazon comprises about one-half of the world’s remaining rain forests and is home to more than one-third of all living species.  The Amazon’s rainforests are estimated to generate about 20 percent of the air we breathe, about 30 percent of the world’s fresh water, and plants from which about 60 percent of all cancer-fighting drugs are derived. 

Covered by a canopy 130 feet or higher, the world’s rainforests host more types of birds than any other forested environment, along with at least 125 types of mammals, and countless reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and plants – making them an artist’s dream.

Art of the Rainforest was produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.  The Detroit Zoo exhibition is part of a seven-stop national museum tour which began in the fall of 2005 and will conclude in the spring of 2008.

The Detroit Zoo exhibition runs through September 8, 2007, and is open daily during regular Zoo hours at no additional charge. 

The Detroit Zoological Society is a non-profit organization that operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Zoo.  Situated on 125 acres of naturalistic exhibits, the Detroit Zoo is located at the intersection of Ten Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, just off I-696, in Royal Oak.  The Detroit Zoo is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through October – with extended hours until 8 p.m. Wednesdays during July and August – and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March.  Admission is $11.00 for adults 13 to 61, $9.00 for senior citizens 62 and older, and $7.00 for children ages 2 to 12; children under 2 are free.  For more information, call (248) 541-5717 or visit www.detroitzoo.org.  The Belle Isle Nature Zoo is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through October and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March, and provides educational programming with interpretive staff support from the Huron-Clinton Metroparks.  For more information, call (313) 852-4056.

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