Color Makes Connections in New Artworks

Squirrels, deer, dragonflies, snails, the cranes we see flying overhead as they migrate in the fall: familiar animals, often seen. But they will be seen in a very different way next spring at The Morton Arboretum.

In a larger-than-life kaleidoscope of colors, five giant sculptures will embody these familiar animals when the new Vivid Creatures: An encounter with colorful forest friends exhibition opens at the Arboretum May 16, 2025, through spring 2027. The artworks are designed exclusively for the Arboretum in a fanciful way to spark imagination and invite storytelling and play.

“It’s an opportunity to forge a new kind of personal connection with a familiar creature,” said sculptor Heather BeGaetz. She and Fez BeGaetz, a former wilderness guide, are the artist partners who are creating this joyful experience.

They bring a wide range of experience to their collaborative work of creating grand, immersive artworks for outdoor art and music festivals, and now, as sculptors of this two-year exhibition.

One sculpture, a huge snail, will greet motorists on top of the high berm that separates the Arboretum from Interstate Highway 88. The others will be accessible along a walkable route that loops around Meadow Lake and nearby paths within easy reach of the Visitor Center. Amid the tall trees and curving shorelines that create a backdrop of green and earth tones, the route will create moments of anticipation and discovery as the expressive artworks come into view.

Fez spent a decade guiding trips in the wilderness. Heather has a theatrical background—including as a maker of masks, with a skill for creating animals with friendly faces. They live and work in Portland, Oregon, with their young daughter Calliope.

All three visited the Arboretum for inspiration. “We wanted to find out which animals are in that landscape so we could create an opportunity for closeness with these creatures, at least in people’s imaginations,” Heather said.

Cranes were migrating overhead at the time, so a sandhill crane became one of the artworks. A stately buck with magnificent antlers personifies the many whitetail deer that live at the Arboretum. A snail—in nature a tiny, usually unnoticed animal that works slowly but surely to help break down leaf litter in the woods—was reimagined as a giant greeter overlooking the tollway.

A cheeky squirrel that approached Fez and Calliope outside the Administration Building earned a place in the cast of characters. “Squirrels are in the woods, but they’re also in people’s neighborhoods. They’re such epic dancers in the tree canopy,” said Heather. “It’s fun to sculpt these creatures that are so common to people, but to show them in uncommon ways.”

Although the sculptures are far from literal depictions, they are informed by the animals’ real roles in nature and in the ecosystem of the Arboretum. Intricate swirls of imagery on their surfaces make connections to their roles in nature. The squirrel, for example, is decorated to show their role in propagating nut trees. The moon on the crane nods to the role of the night sky in guiding birds’ migrations. The buck sprouts oak leaves and the acorns that deer love to eat, among other imagery that draws connections in a web of life. “We’re representing some aspect of each creature’s story and the story of their relationships,” Heather said.

The sculptures are remarkable not only for their sheer size but for their vivid colors. “We all know what a squirrel looks like,” Fez said. “But with the colors, we’re inviting people to play and to see beyond what they can normally see.” Entering imaginatively into the world of the animals invites guests to think about their own connections with nature.

Creating such monumental sculptures is a highly collaborative process. “We often design side by side,” Heather said. “I’ll be digitally sculpting the exteriors and designing the color palettes and textures and running things by him, and Fez will be sitting next to me and working in an architectural program on the interiors and figuring out how they go together.” A team of local artisans in Portland helps them to realize their designs.

Welded steel armatures support the sculptures on the inside. Since the artworks are so large and heavy—the deer may weigh as much as five tons–they are being built in modules that can be taken apart to be trucked to Chicago and reconnected when they arrive onsite. The artists incorporated as much recycled or sustainably sourced material as possible. About 80% of the steel has been recycled at least once, and has a lower carbon footprint than most other materials used for large scale sculptures.

Crushed aluminum foil tucked between the ribs of the armatures establishes the shapes, and the swirling, fantastical surfaces are hand-sculpted from a fiber-reinforced concrete material that can be molded like clay. Painted and sealed, it can last for several years and will easily handle two years in the Chicago climate. The artworks can then take their places in the green, tree-filled landscape of the Arboretum, a perfect theater for this cast of larger-than-life characters.

“Part of what I love about large-scale outdoor art is that it becomes a backdrop,” Heather said. Unlike an art exhibit inside a hushed museum, “It’s a kind of stage in the world for people to experience their own lives in front of. They’re having a conversation, or they’re playing, or they’re making up their own games. And now these giant beings are theirs to take into their lives for the day.”