Political Animals: Public Art in American Zoos and Aquariums

Political Animals is a thorough history of how one cultural institution has negotiated the relationship between its public and its collection, using art as a mediator. -- Harry Sheff * Public Art Review * Overlooked by scholars but looked over daily by visitors, artworks in the nation's zoos and aquariums reveal Americans' evolving understanding of animals and themselves. In this much welcome contribution, authors Jesse Donahue and Erik Trump examine the means by which public art at the public zoo testifies not only humans' relationship to other animals. Such art engages political debates about the nature of democracy and aesthetics, about scientific research and religious belief, and, finally, about animal rights and the nature of Nature itself. Political Animals extends current discussions of the role of the arts in a democracy as it critically examines Americans' stewardship of the animal kingdom... -- Shirley Teresa Wajda, Kent State University Overlooked by scholars but looked over daily by visitors, artworks in the nation's zoos and aquariums reveal Americans' evolving understanding of animals and themselves. In this much welcome contribution, authors Jesse Donahue and Erik Trump examine the means by which public art at the public zoo testifies not only humans' relationship to other animals. Such art engages political debates about the nature of democracy and aesthetics, about scientific research and religious belief, and, finally, about animal rights and the nature of Nature itself. Political Animals extends current discussions of the role of the arts in a democracy as it critically examines Americans' stewardship of the animal kingdom. -- Shirley Teresa Wajda, Kent State University