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ROYAL OAK, Mich., September 15, 2008 – The Detroit Zoo will unveil its latest art exhibition on September 29, 2008, when Animals A to Z: The Art of Scientific Illustrators debuts at the Exhibit Gallery of the Ford Education Center.
In 2002, University of Michigan professor Joe Trumpey answered a call from Thomson Gale Group Publishing in Farmington, Mich., to illustrate over 5,000 animal species for the first new edition in 30 years of the 17-volume Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Trumpey enlisted the help of 14 other illustrators, all former students and colleagues associated with U of M. For the next three years, the team – known as Michigan Science Art, LLC – painted everything from grubs to gorillas, flies to flamingos, and carp to crocodiles.
The exhibition includes 150 original paintings and sketches, as well as biographies and stories about the artists’ individual artistic processes. “The exhibition reveals how the art of scientific illustration, using the traditional artist’s tools of pencil, paper, paint and canvas, continues to thrive today in a technological era,” said Detroit Zoological Society Curator of Education Mark Packer.
The Animals A to Z exhibition runs through November 30, 2008, and is open daily during regular Zoo hours at no additional charge. All framed original artworks in the exhibition are available for sale; additional unframed prints are also available. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Detroit Zoological Society.
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 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March. Admission is $11 for adults 13 to 61, $9 for senior citizens 62 and older, and $7 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. year-round and provides educational programming with interpretive staff support from the Huron-Clinton Metroparks. For more information, call (313) 852-4056.
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