Woolly Mammoth

Starlight Studio and Art Gallery Artist Chace Lobley is embarking on a public art project that includes the building of a life-sized woolly mammoth in a lot on the West Side of Buffalo.This sculpture is part of CEPA Gallery’s West Side Lots Project, a series of temporary site-specific public art commissions, according to CEPA “that will transform vacant lots, remnants what was once urban blight on Buffalo's West Side, into vibrant, engaging, and interactive public displays” through works from professional local, national, and international artists.

The project is a community effort, with donations coming from multiple sources. According to Carrie Marcotte, program director of Starlight Studio, “Woolly Mammoth is a collaborative effort between Starlight Studio, its artist Chace Lobley, and Jonathan Daley of Solid 716. Lobley has rendered a prehistoric Woolly Mammoth to be realized in full-scale with realistic texture and color. Daley will help fabricate the mammoth, made of light weight foam with a concrete outer shell, with Lobley on site.”

According to the project specifications, the mammoth will have a rebar frame, and be constructed from cut foam block, muslin gauze, and spray-on and hand-sculpted cement, with a finishing stain. The sculpture is secured to a concrete foundation with cement anchors. The project has begun to take shape, literally, as Chace and the team have begun to shape the foam and concrete shell. The concrete base and rebar structure were installed in October.

Marcotte added, “This life-sized creature will capture attention of viewers in all seasons. The image of a Woolly Mammoth standing in a Buffalo lot is powerful and evocative. It is a reminder of what may have once roamed where our city stands today; it’s a reminder of our dominant natural world; it’s a reminder to look; perhaps it’s a reminder of something bigger and more powerful than us, and, it’s fun.”

This project is right up Lobley’s alley. According to his bio on Starlight Studio’s website, “Chace gravitates towards clay, but this Buffalonian has a natural ability and understanding of almost every material introduced to him. He has created excellent sculptures and drawings with many materials such as tissue paper, linoleum block prints, and charcoal. His interests include dinosaurs, mythical beasts, monsters, and cartoons.”

Once completed, the mammoth will be installed in a vacant parcel on Helen Street.

https://www.cepagallery.org/exhibit-event/west-side-lots-public-art-initiative2016/