It’s no easy task to install these giant sculptures.
A new exhibition at the Morton Arboretum, opening May 17, will feature Illinois' native animals.
Stream NBC 5 for free, 24/7, wherever you are.
WATCH HEREHusband and wife artists Fez and Heather Begaetz are installing 22-foot-tall Generosity, which is modeled after a white-tailed deer. They say it will take days to complete the process.
“So the buck himself is actually a hybrid being,” Heather Begaetz said. “He’s part oak and part deer, and so he’s hosting animals in his antlers and you can actually find all four of the other animals in the series somewhere in the sculpture."
The exhibition, called Vivid Creatures, will feature five big and colorful sculptures. The artists transported them all the way from Portland Oregon, their hometown.
“It’s amazing. It has exceeded our expectations,” says Amy Scott, head of Exhibitions at The Morton Arboretum. “So colorful. So many details. All the pieces tell the story about nature and about the interaction between different elements and how they all support each other to exist. “
The squirrel, whose name is Scamp, is modeled after a squirrel the artists saw while walking around the Arboretum, and the colors they used were inspired by sunrise and sunset.
Local
“There’s a lot of the pastel-ish colors and hues that are featured in the installations from that time of day. Purples, reds, pinks, orange yellow green blue, it’s all of them,” Fez Begaetz said.
There’s also one you can see from the expressway, Spectra, modeled after a brittle button snail. It’s 16 feet tall and 25 feet long.
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the news you need to know with the Chicago Catch-Up newsletter.
SIGN UP Vivid Creatures officially opens to the public on Saturday, May 17.
