The wolf inside Powell High School

Posted 5/29/14

Senior Shawnea Harrington was the main driving force behind the project.

“I thought the wolf would be interesting and fun,” Harrington said.

The wolf was shot by a Wyoming Game and Fish Department staffer who was asked by Harrington if he …

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The wolf inside Powell High School

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Art class creates realistic mount of canine, puts it on display  

A wolf never expects to be in a school, but a decision to chase cattle landed a canine in the halls of Powell High School.

Each week during the spring semester, the wolf would figuratively make leaps and bounds as the PHS art classes tackled one of the most difficult taxidermy projects it had ever attempted.

Senior Shawnea Harrington was the main driving force behind the project.

“I thought the wolf would be interesting and fun,” Harrington said.

The wolf was shot by a Wyoming Game and Fish Department staffer who was asked by Harrington if he had such an animal carcass to share with the class. The 3-year-old, 150-pound carnivore was skinned by art teacher Jim Gilman and Harrington fleshed the animal.

Walking through the halls by the art room during the process was not a pleasant experience for any student. Harrington also tanned the hide through a pickling process that was nothing short of odiferous.

Recent issues with parasites worried Gilman, but the class experienced no difficulty. He was hesitant to take on the wolf.

“It was an expensive project,” Gilman said. “The whole thing totalled at about $1,000.”

After skinning the massive wolf, an extra-large form was ordered; that part alone cost $450. The head itself was the same size as a grizzly bear, another taxidermy project done by the PHS art classes, during the 2012-13 school year.

Approximately 15 to 20 students participated in the aspects of preparing the wolf for display. Harrington was the main contributor and focused on the actual taxidermy of the wolf. Her many jobs included setting the eyes, ears and nose, and tucking the lips. A large portion of time was spent sewing the wolf onto the form.

Senior Alvaro Acevedo also offered his creativity to the project by designing the “rock” the wolf is posed upon. The base started out as a composition of chicken wire, two-by-fours, a rock mix and a sort of fabric-and-hide paste.

After several coats of paint and detailing were applied, the base resembles a rock. Homemade plastic icicles drip from the rock while the top is scattered with moss and grasses around the feet of the wolf.

A cow jawbone was also donated to the project, and students stained the bone to appear more like a recent wolf kill.

The wolf, which appears poised and alert, stands in the hallway adjacent to the art room, pawing at the scavenged animal on a cold winter ground. A similar impression was given when the wolf sat on display at the State Art Convention in Casper.

“People from different schools really liked it,” senior Sierra Morrow said.

Morrow, an avid member of Art Guild, mainly suggested different touches to help give a realistic feel to the wolf and setting. Since the wolf was not shot under license, it only may be displayed in non-profit venues.

For a moment, the wolf takes a person out into the wilderness. The yellow eyes, contrasting with the charcoal gray coat, focus out front while the ears seem to perk up to the slightest sound. The display is so real, it’s almost as if the wolf survived the cattle chase and delighted in its prize.

PHS art teacher Jim Gilman demonstrates sculpting techniques to freshmen Mary-Ellen Lynn and Ashtin Decker. Gilman brings humor to the art room to keep beginner artists interested.

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