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Giant Rabbits Starring In Public Art Exhibition Taking Shape In Ventura County

"Conejo Cottontails" project bringing public art to the Conejo Valley

Artist Kate Hartenstein is using a brush to dab paint onto her latest project.

It’s unlike anything the Westlake Village woman has created.

She’s painting bright green and pink peace signs and more on a giant fiberglass rabbit, one so large it’s the size of a person.

Hartenstein is one of the artists taking part in Conejo Cottontails, a public art project which is trying to bring 20 of these giant rabbits each with its own unique look created by local artists to the community.

Nan Young is Executive Director of Art Trek, a non-profit arts organization which has teamed up with the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley to create the Conejo Cottontails project. 

Young says the idea is that each artist will provide their own interpretation as to how their giant rabbit will be decorated. They’re going on display at high profile locations in the community, like the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, so people who find art in their travels, instead have having to go to a gallery, or show to experience it.

But, the giant rabbits are much more than public art. They are also fundraisers for the arts. The rabbits can be purchased, or sponsored for $5,000 each, with the money going to arts programs for seniors and children. It’s patterned after similar public arts programs in cities around the country.

Hartenstein cleans her brush as she prepares to dabble more bright green, and pink hues on the 70’s themed piece she’s creating. She says it’s inspired by the joy, and love people feel at Art Trek, which sponsors events where people of all ages come in and create art in their community studios.

Art Trek’s Nan Young says the initial reaction to the first works being taken out into the community has been overwhelming.

The program is being taken into some local schools, with artists talking about the creation of the giant works, and then kids given the chance to decorate their own small scale replicas.  This September, when the annual Thousand Oaks Arts Festival takes place on the grounds of the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, there are plans to have a giant bunny reunion featuring the giant cottontails.

While organizers say they don’t have 20 sponsors yet, they say they are hoping donors will come forward to help the works multiply like rabbits.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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