A TALENTED Malvern artist has used her creativity to help raise national awareness about the plight of one of the largest Zebras in the world.
Last year Rachel Blackwell submitted a zebra design, which was selected from hundreds of others to be brought to life for a giant art trail.
Her finished work of art will be on show in Southampton, Hampshire, for ten weeks this summer, when the city becomes home to a herd of colourful zebra sculptures.
In addition to this, a trail of replica miniature Marwell’s Zany Zebras will be hidden within Marwell Zoo itself.
The public event promises to create an unforgettable trail for families to enjoy whilst raising much needed funds for critically endangered animals. The Grevy’s zebra is the fastest declining land mammal in Kenya and their survival is vital to the whole ecosystem.
It is hoped the trail raises awareness about the plight of Grevy’s zebra and other endangered animals.
This is not the first time Rachel’s talents have made the headlines – earlier this year she was chosen to create a colourful new mural at Malvern Library’s new children’s space.
Her zebra design caught the imagination of one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom ‘Barratt Homes’ who are sponsoring Rachel’s sculpture for the art trail.
Rachel said: “I was delighted to be chosen to paint a zebra for this interesting and exciting project. I picked up the blank zebra from Marwell Zoo intending to paint it in my home studio, however, as the almost life-size zebra sculpture wouldn’t fit in the room, I had to paint it in my kitchen!
“It was quite surreal having a huge zebra in my kitchen during the painting part of the project.
“I have always been interested in the welfare of animals, having previously worked as an animal health and welfare officer for Worcestershire County Council. When I read about the plight of the endangered Grevy’s Zebra I felt that by participating in this project I could help in an artistic way, to raise awareness and funds for these beautiful creatures.”
