UA Little Rock Professor Creates Inviting Habitats for Reptiles at Little Rock Zoo
A UA Little Rock professor has spent her summer vacation creating a more inviting home life for some of the reptiles residing at the Little Rock Zoo.
Karen Dauenhauer, assistant professor of scenic design, was commissioned to paint the habitats for some of the friendly reptiles living at the Zoo.
While she has never painted a project for a zoo before, everybody – including snakes and komodo dragons – deserves a comfortable place to call home.
“Painting habitats for creatures is very different from other types of art,” she said. “There is an animal living in the habitat, and there is a lot of research involved. I needed to study images of their living environment in the wild. The design is supposed to look very realistic.”
So far, Dauenhauer has painted the habitats for a cottonmouth snake and a komodo dragon. Employees at the Little Rock Zoo have been helpful with providing images on what the animals’ habitats should like in the wild and collaborating with Dauenhauer on what the finished products should look like.
Once it was time for her to get to work, Dauenhauer only had a limited number of days to complete the painting.
“There has to be some planning when they take the animal out of the habitat and put it into a temporary enclosure,” she said. “I can’t spend too much time painting because it can stress the animal to spend too much time outside of its original habitat.”
Painting the cottonmouth snake’s enclosure turned into a bit of a challenge for Dauenhauer because the small space left her little room to work.
“Painting the cottonmouth habitat was challenging because of its size and my lack of freedom and movement,” she said. “There wasn’t enough room for me to stand, and I had to paint above my head. I am a little claustrophobic, so I was a little concerned going in. I really had to plan how I was going to paint it.”
Dauenhauer said that she felt a camaraderie with the animals at the Zoo as people watched her work while she painted the habitats in the Reptile and Tropical Bird House.
“The Zoo doesn’t close while I paint so people were coming through and watching me while I worked,” Dauenhauer said. “I had a greater admiration for the animals. The children walking by are in awe. Now that they know what goes into this, maybe I have inspired some of them to be interested in painting. As a teacher, that is something that is really important to me.”
Overall, Dauenhauer has greatly enjoyed the new opportunity that came with working at the Little Rock Zoo.
“This has been a little different than working for theatre,” she said. “For a theatre production, it will have a limited run. Painting something that I know will be enjoyed by people for years to come is the most rewarding part of it.”
Additionally, Dauenhauer will be one of the featured artists during this month’s Argenta Arts District Art Walk that takes place on the third Friday of each month. This month’s event will be from 5-8 p.m. Aug. 16, and Dauenhauer’s work will be showcased at Argenta Counseling & Wellness, and her work will remain in the venue until the week before September’s Art Walk.
