Massive Pencil Mural Wins $200,000 Art Prize
Drumrolls, please. After more than 47,000 voters cast 412,560 votes, the ArtPrize 2012
winner was finally announced last Friday. Taking home the grand prize of $200,000 was
Adonna Khare, an elementary school art teacher turned stay-at-home mom who created a
massive mural of a menagerie of animals all by pencil.
winner was finally announced last Friday. Taking home the grand prize of $200,000 was
Adonna Khare, an elementary school art teacher turned stay-at-home mom who created a
massive mural of a menagerie of animals all by pencil.
A week before the September 19th opening of ArtPrize, Khare brought in her 8-feet tall by
35-feet wide drawing "Elephants" and put it up on the wall of the museum. During the event,
she continued to add to her piece, even spilling over on the museum's walls. She purposely
set up her drawing as a triptych, "to engage the viewers in the transformation of the work.
" At the end, after more than three weeks, the stunning drawing grew to be 13-feet tall by
40-feet wide. (You can see completed photos of the mural on Khare's Facebook page or on
her website.)
35-feet wide drawing "Elephants" and put it up on the wall of the museum. During the event,
she continued to add to her piece, even spilling over on the museum's walls. She purposely
set up her drawing as a triptych, "to engage the viewers in the transformation of the work.
" At the end, after more than three weeks, the stunning drawing grew to be 13-feet tall by
40-feet wide. (You can see completed photos of the mural on Khare's Facebook page or on
her website.)
According to the Los Angeles Times, "Elephants" is a highly personal piece of art work.
"It's kind of a biography of my life transplanted into animals," she told them. "Sad things
like loss and sickness, and happy things like the birth of my daughter."
"It's kind of a biography of my life transplanted into animals," she told them. "Sad things
like loss and sickness, and happy things like the birth of my daughter."
An orangutan hooked up to medical equipment stands for her young nephew who was
diagnosed with diabetes, representing "the sickness of a child, and what it means to inflict
pain in order for somebody to survive."
diagnosed with diabetes, representing "the sickness of a child, and what it means to inflict
pain in order for somebody to survive."
