Stand Tall Legacy Giraffe stands proudly at Lion Walk Shopping Centre, Colchester

In 2013 Colchester Zoo celebrated its 50th birthday and part of the birthday celebrations included the 'Stand Tall for Giraffes' campaign. This large-scale public art event saw over 100 giraffe sculptures sited all over the county with 1.3 m high giraffes created by schools and 2.5 m giraffes painted by local artists all on the streets for the whole community to enjoy. The campaign also raised awareness and funds for Colchester Zoo's charity, Action for the Wild.

Since the success of the Stand Tall for Giraffes campaign the streets have stood empty and the public have missed the sights of the many colourful giraffes at every turn. Colchester Zoo has, therefore, taken the step of commissioning an artist to paint one more 2m tall sculpture as a legacy to the project and on Colchester Zoo's 51st birthday the legacy giraffe was installed permanently at Lion Walk Shopping Centre in Colchester who are also proud sponsors of Colchester Zoo's Lion Rock enclosure.

Lion Walk Shopping Centre is one of Colchester's premier shopping destinations so makes a perfect location for this legacy giraffe. The design of this last giraffe which has been named 'Zoe' was created by 'Lauren Connell' from St Luke's Primary in Tiptree in a design which reflected a number of different species supported by Colchester Zoo. Colchester Zoo was flooded with entries from schools for their 'Year of the Bear' project this year and decided to choose one of the designs for this legacy Giraffe sculpture.

The legacy giraffe was painted by local artist, Jenny Leonard, who also painted Stand Tall giraffes, 'Jungle Jenny' and 'Stan'. Visitors were invited to watch Jenny Leonard painting the legacy giraffe at the zoo before it was completed and moved to its permanent location within the town center. 

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Lauren Connell who came up with the fantastic design and are pleased to see the complete giraffe  standing proudly on display at Lion Walk.

Why not visit the shopping center and see ‘Zoe’ the legacy Giraffe and let us know by posting a selfie with her and sharing it with us on our Facebook page or Twitter feed.