Temporary mural installed in Downtown Pawtucket as part of the 2017 Pawtucket Arts Festival
Farewell to Fanny
This project was created with generous support from the City of Pawtucket.
Installation Site: Morris Nathanson Building
Dimensions: 8’ x 6’
Media: digital print applied to brick with wheat paste
Researched in the Betty Johnson Collection at Pawtucket Public Library, with help from the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council
In 1958, Fanny the Elephant was purchased by the City of Pawtucket from Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey Circus. For 35 years, she lived at the Pawtucket Zoo, until public awareness of her poor living conditions and quality of life hit critical mass. Blackstone Valley citizens campaigned for a change. In 1993, Fanny was released from Rhode Island to Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison, Texas, where she lived the remainder of her years in good health, with hundreds of acres to roam, and the companionship of another elephant, Conga.
This illustration imagines Fanny at the moment of her departure, holding tension between the love of Pawtucket citizens for their resident elephant and justice for Fanny, as she journeyed on— to sanctuary, freedom, and retirement.
At 8’ tall, the final mural embodied the approximate height of an adult Asian elephant.
Original, mixed media illustration created for large-scale reproduction
Mural photos, taken by Erin X. Smithers
Should Fanny Stay or Go?
Seen here: ballots were tallied from a public opinion poll that was published in the Blackstone Valley newspaper
Research photo taken in the Betty Johnson Collection at Pawtucket Public Library