Party animals come to D.C.

WASHINGTON -- The building is cold, dim and vacant, except for 200 donkey and elephant figures in neat rows on the second floor. Soon this downtown store will be abuzz with activity.

Artists are coming by the dozens -- palettes in hand, imaginations in overdrive -- to turn the ghostly gray figures into art.

The party animals have finally come to town.

Peoria, Ill., had its pigs, Orlando, Fla., its lizards, Chicago its cows. In the nation's capital, a public art project that has placed whimsical sculptures in more than a dozen cities is celebrating politics. Next month, decorated symbols of the Democratic and Republican parties will go on the stump citywide in a campaign to lure tourists, raise money for the arts and show that this town really does have a lighter side.

Tabletop models, already painted, offer a preview of what some of the big ones might look like. One elephant is dotted with pink-and-white cherry blossoms. Another, named "Horny," balances a French horn on the tip of its upturned trunk and clenches a saxophone in its mouth.

The light touch is paramount. Organizers didn't want designs that were overtly political or focused on scandal. There won't be any Monica Lewinsky likenesses.

"We wanted a project that would be fun and whimsical and give us an opportunity to poke a little fun at ourselves," said Tony Gittens, executive director of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which is sponsoring the "Party Animals" public art project.

The sculptures will stay on downtown streets and in some neighborhoods through the fall, when they will be sold at a public auction. Proceeds will go to the agency's grant programs. Numerous cities have done similar, dotting their streets with everything from pigs in Seattle to Snoopys in St. Paul, Minn., honoring Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, a native son.

Zurich, Switzerland, was first in 1998, dispensing cheesy cheer with its exhibit of Fiberglas cows.