Thank you to all of our friends—over 170—who attended our 2nd Annual World Lemur Festival on October 12 and our co-sponsors, Ringling College of Art and Design (RCAD) and New College of Florida. We are also very grateful to our volunteers who contributed to its success.
Everyone made this free event another fun, educational, and inspiring celebration all about lemurs. The Alfred R. Goldstein Library on the RCAD campus was, again, the perfect venue and we greatly appreciated the assistance provided by Kristina Keogh, PhD, Director of Library Services, and the staff, as well as instructors Rebecca Zomchek (Illustration) and George Cwirko-Godycki (Computer Animation). The library—inside and out—was a wonderful place to host this delightful event to build awareness about Madagascar’s endangered primates and learn how we can work together to protect them and their habitat.
The presentations, activities, and art exhibition were all exceptional. RCAD instructor and animator Gary Schumer’s talk about stop motion animation and the film “Two Balloons” was standing room only. This and the juried art exhibition perfectly demonstrated the art and conservation connection.
From the 16 art submissions, we were pleased to award the following prizes.
- Sang Lam – RCAD, 1st Place and Lemur Artist of the Year for “Not a Morning Animal”
- MJ – RCAD, 2nd Place for “A New Predator”
- Naicheng Liu – RCAD Honorable Mention for “Together”
We wish to thank conservation partner Lemur Bags for providing the beautiful canvas bags that were presented to the 1st and 2nd Place winners. Each was filled with LCF and handmade Madagascar items and a certificate for a small-group, private tour of our reserve.
Additional LCF conservation partners for the World Lemur Festival included Nature’s Path Envirokidz, Wendy Barnes Design, and Dabbawalla Bags. Thank you! The delicious samples of Leapin’ Lemurs cereal and Crispy Peanut Choco Rice Bars donated by Envirokidz were enjoyed by all.
Other highlights included a talk by Dr. Erik Patel, LCF Conservation and Research Director, following a screening of “Trouble in Lemur Land.” The documentary follows Dr. Patel into the wilds of northeastern Madagascar to study the critically endangered silky sifaka.
We’re very grateful to Kat Sjogren for the wonderful Make n’ Take Family Art projects for all ages, and the creative, lemur-themed temporary “tattoo” stencils provided by Suzy Kalin of Pixie Painting. Attendees eagerly lined up for these fun activities.
Photos by Loralei Hurlock
