Last year, the Annapolis City Council allowed chickens to be raised in backyards. Shortly thereafter, serial entrepreneurs, Jody Danek and Gavin Buckley, decided they needed to be on West Street…in the Arts District…and 7 or 8 feet tall. Enter the O’Callaghan Hotel!
The O’Callaghan Hotel sponsored Annapolis Middle School’s participation in the Hatching the Arts initiative, providing funds for materials and welcoming students, their families, Annapolis Middle School staff and community members to celebrate with a reception. The students worked after school for about two months on the sculpture to bring their theme “The World is My Classroom” to life. The sculpture is dressed as an AMS student, wearing glasses and a uniform appropriate polo shirt complete with the school’s mascot, the dragons. The chicken carries a backpack that has been decorated with painted flags that represent the diversity that is present in our school population. In the pocket of the backpack is a travel guide for Ireland. The chicken stands in an egg, as it is just starting out in its journey, that has been painted like a globe on the outside. The inside of the egg is painted with scenes of the countryside of Ireland, the Chesapeake Bay and cityscapes of Dublin and Annapolis.
This project was truly a community collaboration as so many played a role in bring the sculpture to completion. Jody Danek and Gavin Buckley are responsible for the Hatching the Arts campaign and promoting the arts on West Street. Adam Whitaker is the artist who created the form of the chicken sculptures. Ms. Laura Lane was responsible for building the valuable, community partnership between the hotel and Annapolis Middle School. The O’Callaghan Hotel sponsored AMS’s participation in the project. Brian Foltz, husband of AMS art teacher Emily Miller, made the design ideas a reality by creating the egg globe, glasses and backpack. Maryland Paint generously donated the sealant that will help keep the chicken safe from the elements.
The chicken now roosts outside of the O’Callaghan Hotel.
