Cambridge Standing Tall 2024: Meet some of the artists behind the stunning giraffe sculptures on the trail
Here we meet some of the artists behind the giraffe sculptures on the fabulous Cambridge Standing Tall art trail, which runs in the city from 21 March until 2 June.
From hundreds of submissions, just 31 local and national artists designs made it through, but designing these long-necked beauties was no easy task!
Endangered by Alice Courtley
Using the unique pattern of the giraffe's patches, former Anglian Ruskin University student Alice Courtley’s Endangered brings awareness of all the animals, including many subspecies of giraffe, that are considered critically vulnerable and at threat of extinction.
“Most of my work involves illustrating children’s books, so this is by far the largest illustration I’ve ever done!” explains Alice. “I ended up painting the giraffe in my small living room so it was a bit of a tight squeeze to get the 2.5 metre tall sculpture to fit and it certainly gave our neighbours a bit of a shock when it first arrived! As well as drawing attention to the sad status of the giraffe, visually I wanted to create something that mimicked the Giraffe’s unique patterns/ spots, so I went with a repeating pattern to give a similar (if slightly more stylised) effect when viewed at a distance.
Joe McCullagh, Head of the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), said: “We all absolutely love Alice’s illustrations, highlighting the plight of endangered species, and we can’t wait to unveil the full design to the Cambridge public!”
Gearaffe by Kevin Baumber
A towering fusion of gears and a giraffe, Gearaffe by artist Kevin Baumber and sponsored by Cambridge BID takes us on a fantastical journey into an alternate, gear-driven dimension.
“I have always been interested in the Steampunk movement and felt it would be fun to bring this vibe to the giraffe sculpture, I just needed to find a way of combining the two!
“My wife came up the Gearaffe name so rather than just painting gears and cogs onto it, I created the individual cogs out of steel and welded them to represent the markings of the giraffe. From a distance the markings look pretty normal. Its only when you get a bit closer that things start to get a little interesting!”
Visit Welderbeasts.com.
Gina Giraffacts by Anne-Marie Miller
Sponsored by Bridge Partners and created by Anne-Marie Miller who works as a visual communicator and enjoys creating visual notes at conferences and workshops, Gina Giraffacts Entertaining, educational and eyecatching and encourages you to get up close and learn all about these gentle giants!
“My inspiration was to create an interactive learning experience. I started by getting a bunch of facts and condensed them into snappy phrases and images, sketching onto the model with pencil and then applying acrylic paint and acrylic markers. It’s a great experience having the opportunity to be creative in an unusual way (how often do you get to paint on a giraffe!?!) while helping to make a difference to the lives of young people!”
The Giraffodil by Sally Adams
Standing tall in Eddington Avenue, the fantastic Giraffodil by multi-media artist Sally Adams and sponsored by The Hill Group will be enticing people to venture out of the city and explore the Eddington community. With its three plant pots, this giraffe will be inviting all sorts of living creatures to come and take up habitat in its colourful flowers!
“Collaboration with local charities is a passion for us at Hill and we are very excited to be involved in delivering public art that will bring pleasure to many,” comments Rebecca Littler, Group Sales and Marketing Director at The Hill Group. “We commissioned Sally Adams to create a giraffe that would not only evoke awe but align with our commitment to wildlife and foster communities where nature is as cherished as the residents who inhabit our homes.”
Sally Adams says: “It took me about a month to re-shape and paint the Giraffodil in the conservatory - my only place with a high enough ceiling! The face was tricky, as a giraffe’s snout isn’t hollow, so giving it a daffodil makeover was a good challenge!”
Metropogiraffolis by Dinky Doors
The team behind the trail have once again teamed up with the fabulous Dinky Doors, the anonymous street artists behind the tiny doors that can be found out and about in Cambridge, each one with their own story to tell.
After the success of MooMoo-o-Tron III for Cows about Cambridge, Team Dinky are back with Metropogiraffolis, inspired by Fritz Lang's classic film Metropolis. And it’s not so dinky...
Metropogiraffolis answers the question of how to find an actor who can perform the wide variety of acting talents required for your ambitious storyline when you need to film next week and casting isn't going so well. Their only option? To create a character themselves. How hard can it be to give life to a robotic giraffe?!
Dinky Doors said: “It was great fun to create, but given its lofty proportions it didn't match our diminutive Dinky workshop at Dinky HQ, so we carried out the transformation in the Grand Arcade where our sculpture will be displayed. Any 'decorating a ginormous blank giraffe sculpture in order to raise funds for charity' that we can do is utterly splendid in our opinion. You get to reimagine what a giraffe could be like if all the constraints that mother nature had to work within were off the table. That's quite exciting!”
Cambridge Standing Tall is delivered by local charity Break, together with delivery partners Wild in Art and trail partners Cambridge BID and Alan Boswell. The trail is supported by the Cambridge Independent. Share images yourself with the giraffes on social media using the hashtag #bemoregiraffe, and tag in @breaktrailcambs – and visit https://www.break-charity.org/cambridge-standing-tall/ for more.
