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Pandamania DCPandamania DC was a citywide urban art exhibition presented by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Local DC artists decorated, painted, and accessorized 150 pandas that went on display at street corners, outside Metro stations, and at various other locations throughout the city. The exhibition was scheduled to run all throughout the summer of 2004, from May to September. The exhibition ended with an auction in October, with proceeds going to benefit the DC Commission on the Arts grant and arts education programs. On my various trips to Washington DC, as I went traipsing through the city, I managed to photograph 28 out of 150 pandas, or roughly 19% of the total. So come with me as we go by foot and by Metro all around Washington, to explore what is known as Pandamania DC... Biographical information for these pandas came from the Pandamania DC Web site.
Sightseeing-DC Style I particularly like this panda, since it somewhat reminds me of me. Camera around the neck, Metro farecard in hand, standing over the Metro System Map. And then the "FBI" shirt is the universal tourist designator. You cannot be a tourist in Washington DC without buying or wearing a T-shirt or sweatshirt that says either "FBI" or "CIA" on it.
Coin Panda This panda was later removed and moved to a more protected location at The Shops at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW due to numerous missing coins. This photo was taken in June, when it was mostly intact. If you look closely, though, there is a small bare patch consisting of two missing coins on the panda's left arm.
Shang Bear
Panda Zoodiac
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter This photo was actually taken on the day that Bill Clinton did a book signing at this Barnes and Noble location. However, since this photo was made, this panda was moved to a more protected location at The Shops at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW due to the sculpture's left arm having lost a number of mosaic pieces.
Mike's Carpet Shop
The Garden Variety Panda
Panda-Monet-um
Cherry Blossom
DC's Choo-Choo
PANAMmania
Bearra Cotta Warrior This panda was later removed and moved to a more protected location at The Shops at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue NW due to the loss of the sculpture's right ear.
Ti-bet Your Life As we expected, this panda depicts a panda version of Groucho Marx. This panda actually originally wore glasses, though. Take a look (Pandamania DC photo). It is unknown whether nature or vandals caused the panda to lose its glasses, but however it lost them, it did. You can see marks on the panda's nose showing where the glasses once were.
Carefree Panda
Peanut Butter and Raspbearry
Stars and Stripes
East-West
Pandominium, The Bird Sanctuary I loved this panda, but I think it would have been really neat if it actually did house birds. The areas that look like birdhouses are actually covered by Plexiglas, and have fake birds inside.
DC Tree Panda Is this panda the work of a Virginia Tech fan? It just so happens that this panda is painted in Hokie colors.
Home Rules
World Wide Panda
E Pluribus Pandum This photo was taken at the original World Bank location, where a security guard was keeping an eye on me the whole time. You know the attitude. Anyone with a camera is a terrorist and up to no good.
Kung Pao Panda
Two pandas right next to each other! Let's take a closer look...
Phosphorescent Panda
Imagining Landscape Panda
China Doll
Hide 'n' Seek
Monumental Reflections This is really just a gorgeous panda, in my opinion. I don't know which side is more striking - the Capitol side, or the Washington Monument side.
And lastly, a quick look at a past bit of DC urban art. This is an elephant depicting the Metro's system map, placed in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library outside the Gallery Place-Chinatown station. This was from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities's 2002 "Party Animals" exhibition, where local artists decorated elephants and donkeys, representing Republicans and Democrats. As you can see, Pandamania was not the first urban art exhibition that Washington DC has had, and it certainly won't be the last... |
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