Anyone who makes it to the Children's Zoo in Chattanooga, Tenn., can take a ride on a colobus monkey carved by Christine Foster.
Foster is an English teacher at Warsaw Community High School. The monkey is one of about 47 carved animals on a carousel at the zoo.
It all started several years ago when Foster went to Chattanooga, Foster said in an interview Tuesday morning. She visited world-famous carver Bud Ellis and his studio, Horsing Around, and took a ride on the carousel at Chattanooga's Veterans Park. Chattanooga residents carved the carousel animals.
"He's recognized internationally because he's the only one in this country that teaches that kind of carving," Foster said of Ellis.
Five years ago, Foster received a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship grant to become one of Ellis's students. Under his direction, Foster learned to carve.
Then, two summers ago, Ellis called Foster and told her he had a new project. He was to build a second carousel for the Children's Zoo of endangered animals. He wanted Foster to carve one of the animals.
At first, Foster said, she told him she didn't have the time. But Ellis persisted, telling Foster she'd even get a stipend and some expenses paid. Foster decided to go for it.
All the good endangered animals, such as lions and tigers, were already taken. Ellis told Foster they needed a monkey, so Foster did her research.Foster decided to carve a colobus monkey for the zoo's carousel. These monkeys are some of the oldest species of monkeys in the world, Foster said. Their name colobus means mutilated because they have no thumbs. They also have a shaggy black and white coat with long fur, forming a black cape on their shoulders with long white fringe. They have a very thick fluffy tail that is often mostly white. Their black faces are accented with white beards.
"They almost look like they have a human face with a beard," said Foster.
Foster said they live in the canopy of central African rainforests. Most of their population lives around Kenya. The wars and resettlement of people there are decimating the colobus monkeys' habitat, threatening them with extinction. The Fort Wayne Zoo, Foster said, has a specimen of the monkey.
For the carousel, the animals had to be in a standing-like position so that people could ride on them. The colobus monkey, Foster said, usually hops or springs and are not really walkers. However, Foster said, she was able to find a good position for the carving.
To carve the monkey, Foster takes a drawing and traces it on wood. She then sculpts the wood into the shapes she needs. The head is one piece, the limbs and tail are separate pieces and the body is another piece. The body is hollow because a solid body would be too heavy for the carousel, Foster said. The wood pieces of the monkey are pegged together. The eyes are glass.
Foster said she worked on the carousel piece in April 2007, summer 2007 and then fall and spring break during the 2007-08 school year. It took a total of about six weeks.
Unfortunately, Foster didn't have time to get it painted herself before the dedication. However, a friend in Tennessee painted it for her, she said. The dedication of the carousel was July 4.
Foster said she had a lot of fun working on the colobus monkey. More importantly, she said, she hopes it plants an environmental message into the the kids who ride the endangered species carousel.
Foster isn't done with carving. She is planning to carve some Christmas ornaments and maybe a rocking horse or two for her grandchildren. She's never done small carvings before, so that will present its own challenge, she said.
