If you’ve ever walked around Haddonfield, you may have noticed an abundance of sculptures and art pieces along Kings Highway and around town.
They are the work of the Haddonfield Outdoor Sculpture Trust (HOST), a nonprofit which oversees and arranges for the sculptures to be placed. Some are rentals, some are permanent, some rotate and others don’t.
For this year’s grandparent’s day – Saturday, April 29 – HOST is inviting the community to celebrate at the Children’s Outdoor Sculpture Zoo at the Tatem Memorial Garden.
“As part of the overall effort to bring outdoor sculptures to downtown Haddonfield, several years ago we created what we believe is the first totally dedicated Children’s Outdoor Sculpture Zoo in the country, and that’s a combination of pieces that we’ve purchased and pieces that we’ve donated,” said HOST co-Chair Michael Willmann.
Though Willmann realized the sculpture garden’s popularity, it was made much more obvious when he learned that two of his granddaughters visit the zoo daily with their nanny.
“I thought, wow, this has appeal,” he recalled. “So we tried to find a way to reinforce for people who might not realize how much of a connection their kids could have or, in some cases, do have with these pieces.”
The zoo has also been embraced by residents who live nearby and have designated themselves as “Zoo keepers” to keep the grass and bushes trimmed.
In addition to photo ops at the grandparent’s celebration, there will be demonstrations by nationally renowned sculptor John Giannotti, creator of the “Haddy” the dinosaur sculpture on Kings Highway, at noon and 2 p.m.
Drawings for kids to be “visiting curators” for the zoo and free children’s books on animals and art courtesy of BookSmiles will also be included. There will also be free animal face painting, balloon animals, backpack pins and animal crackers.
The sculpture garden features five animal sculptures: Tumi, a 15-foot, 1,100- pound giraffe cast; Ndoto, a lifesize baby elephant cast in bronze; and three sculptures by Eric Berg, including a sea lion, rabbit and toad that lay low to the ground for kids to climb on.
Tumi was cast in Thailand in the 1970s, and Ndoto was modeled after a real orphaned baby elephant found in Kenya in 2014, according to a press release. HOST has future plans to expand the sculptures at the children’s zoo.
“At the Harvest fall festival, we had a table so kids could vote on what they next wanted to see in terms of an addition, and they had the choice of a gorilla, a tiger and one other animal,” said Willmann. “And to vote, you had to put a dollar in the donation box.
“Kids voted overwhelmingly for the tiger, so that’s the next thing on our list to commission.”
Sculptures can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000 and their timing depends on where they are created.
The zoo hosts tours annually for school groups and is working on an art curriculum module for elementary-school students and an intergenerational docent program to train high-school students and seniors as hosts.
The Children’s Sculpture Zoo, in Tatem Memorial Garden, is located at 338 Kings Highway. Hours for the grandparent’s celebration are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
To learn more about the event or HOST, visit https://haddonfieldsculpture.org/.
