The Resurrection of Glenmont, The Montgomery County Elephant
In 2002, the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities conducted the “Party Animals” project, the largest public art exhibit in Washington, D.C. history. It decorated the city with 200 whimsically painted fiberglass donkeys and elephants, symbolizing the Democratic and Republican parties. The works were mostly created by local artists under somewhat restrictive guidelines and placed throughout the city's streets, parks, and landmarks.
Critics panned the exhibit for its conformity and lack of political weight, calling it “feel-good public art.” There was only one notable exception: “Florida Hybrid.” Baltimore artist Laure Drogoul hacked the legs off an elephant, reshaped its ears into enormous Dumbo-like butterfly wings, and reformed its rear end into a duck’s butt. Drogoul painted it yellow and gave it a thick papier-mâché skin made from reproduced pages of a lepidopterology text and copies of the notorious “butterfly ballot” from the controversial 2000 Bush-Gore Florida election ordeal.
Florida Hybrid was placed in front of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. during the Party Animals exhibit. (Photo by John Woo, retrieved from partyanimalsdc.org via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
The 200 animals were auctioned afterwards and found their way into galleries, private collections, in front of businesses, and on private lawns.
Fast Forward 23 Years
By October 2025, my two-year-old satire website had grown beyond its two-year-old humor to include advocacy, news and local politics. A local politician dubbed me “Mayor of Glenmont” in recognition of my advocacy against blight in the area (Glenmont has no government).
As I was chronicling the crumbling conditions at the Glenmont Shopping Center one evening, I discovered a dilapidated, dirty plastic and plaster elephant statue with wings dumped just outside a county-owned lot on the property. I used pictures of it in satirical posts: an elephant roaming the asphalt plains.
Florida Hybrid was dumped on its side on a pile of broken pallets and trash outside the gate of county owned (and squatter occupied) Parcel H of the Glenmont Shopping Center
Two weeks later, the county hadn't moved it, so I posted and roasted again. This time, an astute fan identified the elephant as part of the 2002 Party Animals exhibit.
A 2002 Washington Post article lists all of the Party Animals pieces sold at auction. Florida Hybrid went for $4,100 to a Montgomery County resident who passed away in 2018. Another website fan told me Florida Hybrid was on display on the lawn of a home on New Hampshire Avenue in Colesville for years, but had become worn and faded and disappeared early in the COVID-19 pandemic. How it got to the Glenmont Shopping Center remains a mystery.
Egged on by friends and fans, I borrowed a pickup and rescued Florida Hybrid. It was in rough shape. The plaster and metal frame wings were partially disconnected, peeling, and bent. The papier-mâché skin was rotten and moldy. Even the base body, made of heavy-duty fiberglass, was cracked in several places.
I tracked down Laure Drogoul. The artist was thrilled to hear I was interested in resurrecting the elephant. She offered to send me a box of butterfly ballots she still had, and gave me her blessing to make the elephant mine.
I have been slowly rehabbing Florida Hybrid, which I've renamed “Glenmont, The Montgomery County Elephant.” I have limited sculpture experience, but I’m handy and the Internet has been helpful. Laure Drogoul gave me some tips and I was able to somewhat replicate her wire and plaster construction methods, adding fiberglass reinforcement. With the body whole, I began papier-mâché this spring, applying multiple layers of paper towel saturated in diluted Titebond III waterproof wood glue. Next, layers of grocery store paper bags, using the same method.
Experimenting with various reconstruction materials and techniques before the rebuild.
Primed and painted, Glenmont, The Montgomery County Elephant, will make its revitalized public debut at The Wheaton Arts Parade & Festival on September 27, 2026. After that, Glenmont is likely to roam the county, a symbol of revitalization for a shopping center and neighborhood still waiting for their own resurrection.
