Chimpanzee Community Project
How can art support chimpanzee conservation?
Chimpanzees are amazing! They are intelligent and social animals who play a pivotal role in supporting their forest home – as gardeners of the forest. Yet they are also in trouble.
Threatened by habitat loss, human wildlife conflict, bushmeat consumption and the illegal wildlife trade, with all four subspecies facing rapidly declining population numbers, they need our help. This is why Drawing for the Planet in partnership with Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection and Born Free have created the engaging Chimpanzee Community project and exhibition.
This project raises awareness of endangered chimpanzees, and Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection’s vital work caring for over one hundred critically endangered western chimpanzees, orphaned by the illegal bushmeat and pet trades.
Led by Jane Lee McCracken, artist and founder of Drawing for the Planet, over 500 children from the UK, the USA and Liberia participated in workshops organised by Jane, Born Free and Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection. The children learned about chimpanzees while creating Biro drawings of rescued chimpanzees.
How do you get involved?
Come and visit the exhibition:
- Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Northumberland
- 25th October – 22nd November 2024
The Chimpanzee Community exhibition features artwork by children from Belsay School and Ponteland Primary School (UK), Top of the World Elementary School and El Morro Elementary School (USA) and Charlesville, SNAFU Dock, and Gbor Korsein public schools in Liberia. It also includes Jane McCracken’s original drawing, Gardener of the Forest, and photos of rescued chimpanzees by Jenny Desmond, founder of Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue & Protection.
Download the free teaching resources and get your students involved:
www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-13132109
To ensure that the legacy of this project continues beyond this amazing exhibition of children’s art, we have created a teacher/home educator led resource to provide an opportunity for other children, wherever they are, to get involved.
“Passion for art, education and conservation of nature is at the beating heart of this project. It has been a privilege to work with children from three continents and such impactful partners who have illuminated a generation about how important chimpanzees are to humanity. To see the joy on children's faces as they drew our relatives was priceless - I am so proud of what we have achieved.” Jane Lee McCracken
To find out more about the partners, please visit:
