For a brief moment, the morning rush along First Street in Livermore, California, feels distinctly un-Californian. The routine hum of traffic and shopkeepers setting up vanishes between a silent stampede of statues. A herd of life-size, hand-woven elephant sculptures engulfs the Bankhead Plaza as if it were a savanna — their striking presence transforming the park into an immersive sanctuary for art and global conservation.
The art exhibition, titled “The Great Elephant Migration,” first arrived in Livermore on Oct. 10 and consists of 27 sculptures. Co-hosted by local nonprofits Livermore Valley Arts and Three Thirty-Three Arts, the outdoor showcase is part of a global tour by Coexistence Story Inc. and will remain in Livermore until Dec. 6. Spanning two locations, Stockmen’s Park and Bankhead Plaza, this exhibition marks the herd’s only West Coast stop and is free and open daily.
Its goals, organizers say, are to celebrate environmental stewardship and spark vital conversations about human-wildlife coexistence in East Bay communities.
“The whole concept is that these sculptures are made from Lantana camara, an invasive shrub that’s taking over the forest of Southern India,” said Anne Giancola, visual arts and education manager for Livermore Valley Arts. “It’s really a wonderful story, and by removing this (plant) and creating sculptures from it, the artists are creating an open space for wildlife and human inhabitants to coexist again.”
THE GREAT ELEPHANT MIGRATION in Livermore, Calif. at Bankhead Plaza showcases a series of sculptures that mirror a real herd of Asian elephants. The exhibit, open from Oct. 10 to Dec. 6, features full-scale pieces ranging from five to 15 feet tall. Young visitor and Livermore resident Caroline Pulido, far left, embraces one of the smaller sculptures at its Stockmen’s Park installation in Livermore, Calif., on Oct. 26. While Livermore resident Valerie Hetherington, far right, smiles beside a herd of woven creations. (Photos by Sophia Sucato // The Express)
Hand-crafted by Indigenous artisans in Tamil Nadu, India, each sculpture is modeled after a real-life elephant from the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The region, according to the Wildlife Institute of India, is home to roughly 25% of the world’s Asian elephant population, yet is also critically threatened by the invasive lantana, which has choked out approximately 300,000 square kilometers of native wildlife habitat.
To reclaim these landscapes, the project employs more than 300 artisans across 15 villages, turning invasive shrubs into life-size conservation storytellers.
Any material leftover from the sculpting process is burned into charcoal and used to rejuvenate the local soils.
“It’s a win-win,” said exhibition docent Maryln Moore. “What’s invasive is not only being built into these beautiful sculptures reusing the material, but they’re celebrating the elephants, too … It’s a whole circle of life.”
Moore, a resident from Livermore, says she was inspired to volunteer for the exhibit after learning about it from her son, who viewed its New York City installation in 2024.
“What I noticed about my son,” Moore said, “is that he appreciates moments to get out of the city and experience something different. And I’m hoping that the visitors will reap that from these guys.”
Giancola, who made the original bid for the city of Livermore, said she was similarly driven to host the herd after witnessing them on a trip to Rhode Island.
“It’s very powerful even though they’re only sculptures,” she said. “The fact that you can go up and touch them, be amongst them and feel a part of the herd makes you feel very protected.”
That deep sense of fidelity to one’s local environments, she hopes, will continue to inspire local residents and young artists alike.
Looking to foster a similar connection, Las Positas College will soon host the “Living Gallery,” echoing the global herd’s emphasis on sustainable art and shared spaces. Centered on kinetic art, the gallery will require submitted pieces to incorporate found, reused or sustainable materials.
Currently open for submissions and set to debut in spring of 2027, it too aims to explore methods of conservation through art.
“What I would tell student artists,” Giancola said, “is that sustainable materials are going to be the wave of the future. And to think that way while working on campus projects could really relate to the real world and getting future public art jobs. That’s the beginning of it.”
However, such a dialogue about how art must integrate landscape management and promote harmony with its surroundings is already taking root in the Tri-Valley.
Its provocateurs – the sculptures – converse in unspoken eloquence as families, children and even pets shuffle past their tusks, with many stopping to ask docents like Moore for a quick photo op and implore about the exhibit.
The reactions, she says, are often ones of awe and wonder.
“It’s amazing what people can do with just the odds and ends, you know?” Moore said. “But this (exhibition) really inspires the average person, let alone somebody who likes creating art.”
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TOP PHOTO: A life-sized elephant sculpture waves its curved trunk as part of the “Great Elephant Migration”, a global fundraising and public art exhibition currently in Livermore. Created by Indigenous artisans in southern India, the herd raises awareness for conservation and human-wildlife coexistence and is available for viewing through Dec. 6. (Photo by Sophia Sucato // The Express)
Jo Rojas is the Arts & Entertainment editor for the Express. Follow them on Instagram @itsajobrainer.
