Morton Arboretum’s “Animal Houses” Exhibit Wins Prestigious Award; Chicago Scenic’s Spider Web One of 11 Houses

The Morton Arboretum’s “Animal Houses” outdoor exhibition, comprised of 11 whimsical, imaginative, large-scale animal dwellings, has won a Superior Achievement Award from the Illinois Association of Museums (IAM).

“Animal Houses” was one of 16 exhibits submitted to the IAM for an award, and one of three Superior Achievement Award winners. The exhibit, the first of its kind in the Chicago area, was designed to help visitors learn the ways that trees provide habitat to animals, and to reinforce the importance of appreciating and protecting trees.

Chicago Scenic’s Jeff Bartle, director of creative development, created one of the winning designs, the web of the orb weaver spider. Bartle’s design featured a 20-foot diameter rope web that mimics the spider’s signature spiral weaving style. The human-sized web proved to attract some sizable prey: children. As children play on the web, it vibrates, simulating the orb weaver’s special defense mechanism – it bounces its web to repel potential predators.

Professional designers and architects created the 11 houses, 10 of them in three habitats. The Pollywog Pond, Beaver Lodge, Skunk Den, and Great Blue Heron Rookery are in the wetland near Bur Reed Marsh. At the Schulenberg Prairie houses the Spider Web, Ant Colony, and Coyote Den. The Raccoon Den, Fallen Log, and the Squirrel Drey are in the woodland near Big Rock Visitor Station. An 11th house near the Visitor Center is The Guest House, a house where visitors can find an introduction to the exhibition along with some of the “neighbors” that share our homes and backyards. The exhibit remains open until November 15.