Skip to content

Seeing An Elephant Parade in America

Though it may sound like a herd of elephants lined up along the coast, the Elephant Parade is actually a free, outdoor art exhibition of over 30 life-sized baby elephant sculptures that were hand-painted and designed by local artists and celebrities. They are on display in the coastal town of Dana Point, California (located between San Diego and Los Angeles) making their debut in America after successful exhibitions in London, Copenhagen, Singapore and other cities.

Elephant Parade collage
The Elephant Parade was started by a father and son, Mike and Marc Spits, in 2006 to help raise public awareness, to save and support the Asian elephants who are considered endangered species with a population decreasing at 3.5% annually. A baby elephant named Mosha was a big inspiration for the Elephant Parade. She stepped on an abandoned landmine in Thailand, lost her lower light leg and was fitted with the world’s first baby elephant prosthesis. Each exhibition has a special Mosha elephant and this is the USA’s tribute.

Mosha Elephant parade USA

We spent a couple of hours going around scenic Dana Point last weekend searching for these adorable elephants. They were found in the parks, beaches, harbor, shopping centers and inside the resorts. It’s a good thing my kids enjoy scavenger hunts.  Many of the elephants were approximately 6 feet (1.8 m) in length and 5 feet(1.5m) high.

Elephant parade dana point

We didn’t get to see all of them but here are a few of our favorites. This was called the Gentle Guardian that resembled an angelic elephant about to take flight. It looked like he was guarding the small fishing pier. Each elephant had a sign with the elephant’s name and artist and why the particular theme was chosen and tied to the elephant’s conservation efforts.

Gentle Guardian elephant
We adored this one called Beady. The colorful beads almost looked like bubbles ready to be popped.

Beady Elephant Parade

My kids couldn’t get enough of Jack. How adorable is this aviation themed elephant located inside the Dana Point Ocean Institute? We loved his whole outfit including his aviator glasses. The artwork was made from sustainable and natural materials.
Jack Elephant Parade

We found this artwork called Corn on the side of the road. Like the elephants, corn has been around for centuries and a reminder for us that the elephants need to survive. Part of the proceeds from merchandise sales and the elephant art pieces helps The Asian Elephant Foundation. The charity supports various projects in 13 Asian countries that range from education, supporting elephant hospitals and sanctuaries and mobile elephant clinics.

Corn Elephant Parade

One of my favorites was called Zia Skye which seemed to be named after the artist’s childrens’ names. She had a very colorful map of many of the favorite landmarks along Southern and Central California enhanced by cute cartoon characters.

Zia Skye Elephant Parade

Triumph of Liberty was an imposing elephant that exuded so much patriotism and looked like he should lead the next 4th of July parade. This was a call for Americans to unite and help preserve these magnificent animals.

Triumph of Liberty Elephant
I wanted to take a smaller version of this one called Maa Lii home. Her designs full of exotic blossoms were just beautiful resembling a walking bouquet. She represents hope for the elephants to blossom again.

Maa Lii Elephant parade

If you’re going to display these elephants, it might as well be in scenic places with a beautiful beach as a backdrop. We found four of them along Doheny State Beach. These two are called Punkaphant (has spikey-hair look dating back to the 80’s punk days) and The Story of Asia (symbolizes the various Asian life traditions through the faces).

Punkaphant and Story of Asia Elephant Parade

The other two were called Epiphany and Ramafly. We loved all the butterflies on Ramafly.

Epiphany and Ramafly Elephant Parade

The elephants were also on display at many of the Dana Point Resorts like Laguna Cliffs Marriott, Doubletree Resort, the Ritz Carlton and St. Regis Monarch Beach. This cute elephant was called I Brought My Own Snorkel which we found on the grounds of Laguna Cliffs Resort. It was painted by famed Marine Life artist, Wyland, who is known for painting large murals of whales on building walls. My husband is a huge fan but we were a bit disappointed Wyland only did a small portion of this elephant.

Wyland Elephant parade
It wouldn’t be Southern California without a tribute to the classic surfer ride, the surf-woodie. This smaller elephant was at the entrance welcoming guests to a Woodie show and appropriately called California Surpher.

California Surpher Elephant Parade

We met other people on a treasure hunt as they crossed off elephants to see. We didn’t see other kids but we thought it was a good activity for kids to search for them, see the creative artwork and learn about the plight of the elephants. They seem to be everywhere in the city. We found these two elephants at a shopping center and were called Cycles of Life and the very patriotic American Traveler.

Cycles of Life Americana Elephant

We went into the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort to see their collection. My almost 11-year-daughter says it makes her feel “like a celebrity walking in this hotel”. How can you not with a view like this?

St Regis Monarch Beach

There were a few elephants displayed in the lobby area. One of our favorite elephants was The Shopping Queen. She looked like she was about ready to hit up the stores in full force.

Shopping Queen Elephant Parade
I also loved this one called Wild Life in pink and purples reminiscent of pin-up posters.

Wild Life Elpehant Parade

But, the best part here was the display of 14 replicas called the Tribute Collection. These elephants were half the size of elephants displayed from previous exhibitions in other worldwide cities. A total of 45 replicas were on display at the various Dana Point resorts.

Miniature Elephants2

These little beauties cost $3900 USD if you want to take them home. Since we don’t have elephant accessory in our budget, we settled for pictures. We found Hellaphunt from the Singapore exhibit and Topographant from the London exhibit.

Miniature Elephants

The organizers did a great job scattering these elephants throughout the city and resorts as a way to explore and promote Dana Point to the rest of the world and showcase its coastal beauty. It was a wonderful family outing and one my kids really enjoyed.

I don’t think they’ll look at elephants the same way again. The Elephant Parade included such marvelous and creative works of art and was an ideal way to help conserve and preserve these majestic animals. I hope it comes to a city near you soon.

Elephant Parade minis

*Which is your favorite Elephant? Have you seen this exhibit?

37 thoughts on “Seeing An Elephant Parade in America”

  1. What an incredible parade! Love all the artwork. Not sure that I could pick a favourite, but the one withe flowers is high on my list. In Margaret River a couple of years ago the tourism body organised a Cow Parade, with the same theme – artist’s painted the cows and they were displayed at various venues around the region, then auctioned for charity.

  2. What a creative way to help with elephant preservation and showcase what looks like a very pretty part of southern California. I think it’s a terrific family activity too. I’m having a hard time picking a favourite. It’s a toss-up between Jack and Beady.

  3. Love these elephants! It’s so hard to pick a favourite but I do think the Shopping Queen is adorable. We had painted moose in Toronto a few years ago and we saw a parade of tulips in Ottawa last year – it’s such a great idea for outdoor art!

  4. My favorite is Epiphany. I remember when Singapore had their Elephant Parade, but we never got around to seeing it. Austin, Texas bills itself as “The Live Music Capital of the World” and has giant painted guitars around town. This definitely looks like a fun family friendly way to spend the day.

  5. Cute!!! We need such awareness more than ever. In my country and the continent of Africa in general, the slaughter of Elephants has increased manifold in the last couple of years.

  6. All of them look so cute and amazing. My favorite one is the one looking like a sweetcorn :).
    Maybe because I am having some sweetcorn right now and it just made me laugh! Great place to
    explore with kids, definitely!

  7. I love love love these! The colors are so amazing, and of course elephants are one
    of my favorite animals. There is a store in Chiang Mai that is sells elephants from the Elephant Parade. I bought a beautiful one when I was there last winters. She sits on my desk. Her name is Sakike. All of them are so beautiful. Choosing just one was no easy task!

  8. I love Beady, Maa Lii and Corn, and Shopping Queen looks very tarty indeed! The Elephant Parade not only looks like a fun day out but it’s for such a good cause and has hopefully brought more awareness to these credible but endangered animals.

  9. I love all the variations! I think the Gentle Guardian one is my favorite – but I also love the California Surfer.

    I went to Dana Point a few years ago – it’s a beautiful area.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.