On July 16th at the Virginia Zoological Park in Norfolk, people of all ages wore tee-shirts in only one of two colors (green or brown) and allowed themselves to be arranged in a pattern that was photographed from above. And the first annual Sky Art event was done!

Thanks to the nearly 140 participants, habitat conservation got a boost locally and internationally. Participants not only helped create a unique piece of art, they got an early-bird look at the Zoo, a commemorative tee-shirt, and their fees supported plant conservation.

Sky Art is a living image formed on the ground and photographed aerially from a crane. People on the ground wear colors that help produce an image when photographed from above. Over 30 hours of editing went into creating the final image. Photographer David Totten removed shadows, created a border, and added text to turn the image into a poster. The resulting graphic features Schnitz, the Virginia Zoological Park's male orangutan, seen through the trees in a rainforest.

Proceeds from the event went to support plant conservation locally through the Elizabeth River Project, which works to restore the Elizabeth River environment, and internationally through the Orangutan Foundation International, to sponsor land in the Rawa Kuno Legacy Forest in Borneo, home to hundreds of Orangutans and other wildlife.

The Sky Art poster will be entered in a national competition organized by the Association for Zoological Horticulture to promote plant conservation and used to help raise awareness of deforestation occurring in Indonesia and Malaysia. Wild orangutans are found only on the Indonesian and Malaysian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, and could become extinct in the wild in as little as 15 years if habitat loss from palm oil industry plantation development, deforestation and burning of peat forest cannot be controlled.