Pelican Story

Fairhope, Alabama was founded by Midwestern idealists in 1894 as an experimental utopian community, through a Single Tax Colony based on the philosophy of Henry George. The founders chose a scenic spot on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay for its natural beauty, fertile land and temperate climate. From its early years, Fairhope has been home to artists, writers, and idealists.

Local boutiques, art galleries, and antique shops line the downtown streets. Colorful flowers bloom on every street corner. There are monthly art walks, weekly book signings and reviews, readings by local and regional authors, Baldwin Pops concerts on the bluff, as well as the annual Arts and Crafts Festival, Mardi Gras parades and a New Year’s Eve street celebration.

Fairhope is a tourist destination for visitors and "snowbirds" who come to the Gulf Coast beaches and golf courses of South Alabama and Northwest Florida. In particular, the nearby historic Grand Hotel attracts vacationers and conventioneers to Fairhope’s stores, restaurants and recreational sites.

In the Spring of 2005, the Eastern Shore Art Association’s Committee On Public Art (COPA) invited several local artists to discuss their visions for public art in Fairhope. One of the suggestions was an initial project to stir excitement in the community, where art comes alive for everyone. Using the theme of pelicans, it was suggested that the project be similar to "Cows On Parade" in Chicago and Kansas City and the A"Fish On Parade" in New Orleans. "Art Takes Flight" would be a way to get the community involved and to raise money for public art.

Kay Friedlander, chairperson of COPA, appointed Barbara Casey and Dean Mosher as co-chairs of the Art Takes Flight Subcommittee. Barbara concentrated on organizing the committee and studying temporary art projects in other cities. Dean worked on the feasibility of getting the pelicans cast from the original pelican model by his father-in-law, Fairhope’s Craig Sheldon, for his Celebration of Life sculpture, Fairhope’s first public sculpture, which celebrated the return of the Brown Pelican to Mobile Bay.

COPA members Claudia Ainsworth, Charles Bassett, Jolane Edwards, Deborah Kingrea, Coleman Mills, Jenny Rich, and Dianne and Clay Swanzy, volunteered to serve on the Art Takes Flight Subcommittee, as did America Jones-Gallaspy, the originator of the proposal. Later, Fran Faust Slade, Kathleen Taupeka, Nancy Rowe, Deborah Newberry and Fran Taber joined the subcommittee.

The project was originally planned for 2006, but Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in July 2005. New Orleans was under water, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was destroyed, and parts of South Alabama received heavy damage. The Grand Hotel at Point Clear was so severely damaged it stayed closed for more than a year for repairs.

As a result, COPA moved its Art Takes Flight project back to 2007 and set a goal of 40 to 50 pelicans, which would be displayed throughout Fairhope for five months beginning in March and ending in July. COPA believed that the project would help to lift the spirits of the community and bring tourists back to Fairhope.

In May 2006, Thomas Harrison, Arts Editor of the Mobile Press Register, introduced the project through an article which included a Call for Artists. To be as inclusive as possible, there was to be no jury selection. The sponsor would pick the design or the artist.

A brochure was sent to potential sponsors asking for their support and to artists asking for their designs. The brochures were placed in Welcome Centers across Alabama. The Sponsors subcommittee and COPA committee members approached local businesses and individuals for their financial support.

Adapting the pelican to a fiberglass form and devising an interior armature and the bases and brackets to make them stable and secure took eight months. The pelican was not the usual simple, rounded form recommended for temporary public art projects. 

The pelicans had a sneak premiere at a birthday party for Fannie Flagg, a fund raiser given by Page and Palette, a Fairhope bookstore and coffee shop. Fannie Flagg read from and signed her book, "Can’t Wait To Get To Heaven." Participants wore all white, and a handful of pelicans, unpainted at that time, were adorned with temporary halos and perched on the grounds of the storybook home of Pagan and Dean Mosher.

Jo Patton, a Fairhope artist, was invited to do the first painted pelican. "A Fishy Diet" was displayed at the Eastern Shore Art Center and made an appearance at the 2006 Birdfest on October 22, 2006.

The initial reaction was so successful that Art Takes Flight has 71 sponsored pelicans flying throughout downtown Fairhope. As the flowerbeds and planters were refreshed by the city, more pelicans were set in place. This slow process, the increased number of pelicans, and delays in production resulted in two Flights, a First Flight in March with an initial 30; the balance were to join them in a Second Flight in May and June. More production problems delayed the arrival of some in the Second Flight until the end of July.

In June we were devastated by the theft of the delightful "Pelican Bill with a Grill," and are still hoping it will be returned. There is a $1250 reward for the return and a $1000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief.

Sheldon, the interactive pelican, is on the plaza near the corner of Section Street and Fairhope Avenue. The Warbirds are flying in formation from under the balcony at Page and Palette, while the Word Bird, featuring book spine feathers and signed by local authors, sits on his nest in a nearby flowerbed. The Wacky Waco bi-plane is perched inside the new Fairhope Library. A quick walk downtown will also reveal the Fred Astaire Pelican, Flighty Marilyn, Superman Pelican, Jewelbillee, Lance Wingspan, Elegant Pelican, Cirque de Soleil, and many others.

The pelicans are now on their correct perches. In late June, the Tooth Fairy Pelican, Lilly – It’s a Girl Thing, and Pelican Fantasy flew to their new locations in front of the Fairhope Library, joining Craig Sheldican and Sunset Pelican II. Nefertiti is now in the French Quarter, and Southern Nights gave up its perch to Summertime and has taken Nefertiti’s place across from the Welcome Center. The Courier Pelican, Paradise Pelican, Pavlovacan and the rest of the flock arrived in June and July. And the Wine-I-Can, a mosaic pelican bas-relief, and Party Pelican, ridden by a Mardi Gras jester, went up at the end of July. The beautifully beaded pelican, Sunset On Mobile Bay, is now perched by the lagoon at the Grand Hotel.

Maps of the Pelican Flight Paths are available at the Welcome Center, Eastern Shore Art Center, and the Eastern Shore Chamber of Commerce, as well as in Welcome Centers throughout the state.

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