Ostrich Project for the City of Chandler
20th Anniversary of the Ostrich Festival
20th Anniversary of the Ostrich Festival
What a fun project!! I was very privileged and pleased to have been commissioned by the City of Chandler to paint &
decorate a life size Ostrich in celebration of their 20th Anniversary of the infamous Ostrich Festival. Thirteen other
artists each received a life size bird to work on, which were all displayed in downtown Chandler during the festival.
There was a time when there were lots of large Ostrich farms in the surrounding area of Chandler. Only a few still are in
business today. But, the legend lives on with races, carnival, parades, & fun for all at the festival!
Since I'm a painter, I had to cover mine in oils. My husband helped with the design of a car in the desert. I imagined the
bird to be dreaming with his head in the clouds, of driving the car down an Arizona Hwy. We both love the old classics and
I painted him driving a 1963 Cadillac 2-door sedan. You can see his profile through the window. On the driver's side he's
got the window down, enjoying the desert breeze. As in my imagination, the bird ended up part real, and part fantasy.
He was on display here on Boston & San Marcos for several months during and after the festival, but now can be seen in
the Hamilton Branch of the Chandler City Library at 3700 S. Arizona Avenue, just a mile or so South of HWY 202,
ph.480-782-2828. Hope you can get a chance to see him in person.
For more information, call the Vision Gallery, who headed the project
(sponsored by the Chandler Center for the Arts) at 480.917.6859.
decorate a life size Ostrich in celebration of their 20th Anniversary of the infamous Ostrich Festival. Thirteen other
artists each received a life size bird to work on, which were all displayed in downtown Chandler during the festival.
There was a time when there were lots of large Ostrich farms in the surrounding area of Chandler. Only a few still are in
business today. But, the legend lives on with races, carnival, parades, & fun for all at the festival!
Since I'm a painter, I had to cover mine in oils. My husband helped with the design of a car in the desert. I imagined the
bird to be dreaming with his head in the clouds, of driving the car down an Arizona Hwy. We both love the old classics and
I painted him driving a 1963 Cadillac 2-door sedan. You can see his profile through the window. On the driver's side he's
got the window down, enjoying the desert breeze. As in my imagination, the bird ended up part real, and part fantasy.
He was on display here on Boston & San Marcos for several months during and after the festival, but now can be seen in
the Hamilton Branch of the Chandler City Library at 3700 S. Arizona Avenue, just a mile or so South of HWY 202,
ph.480-782-2828. Hope you can get a chance to see him in person.
For more information, call the Vision Gallery, who headed the project
(sponsored by the Chandler Center for the Arts) at 480.917.6859.
| "Dreamin' In Style" by Cheryl Fecht on the corner of Boston & San Marcos in the Historical District of downtown Chandler, Arizona, March 2008 |
Copyright2009byCherylFecht
| "Ostriches On Parade" See more of the birds! Click here. |
| Cheryl Fecht with her Ostrich creation called "Dreamin' In Style" March 2008 |