FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE MUSEUM OF THE GREAT APES is now visiting the San Francisco Bay Area.

You don't have to take a safari to Africa or travel half way around the world to Indonesia to look into the eyes of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.

Thanks to ART WORKS DOWNTOWN and THE RAFAEL TOWN CENTER, for the next couple of months , THE MUSEUM OF THE GREAT APES will be making a stop in downtown San Rafael in Marin County, California. The museum gallery features over 40 acrylic portraits of Great Apes from zoos around the country, a sanctuary in Africa and even a portrait of Clyde who co-starred with Clint Eastwood in the movie Any Which Way You Can.

This is a very special engagement because the museum is the work of San Rafael resident and local artist, Robert Cooper. What inspired Cooper to paint portraits of Great Apes and start a traveling museum dedicated to them?

In July 2001, Cooper visited the San Francisco Zoo to try a zoom lens a friend had given him. Cooper zoomed in on Cobby, the male chimpanzee at the zoo. Cobby stared back and at Cooper and basically said "I'm an intelligent being, what are you going to do about it?" The artist's life has not been the same since that day.

All the Great Apes (gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans) are facing extinction in the wild due to poaching and loss of habitat. For this reason, the museum is more than just an art gallery, it inspires and educates the public about these remarkable beings and has information available on how to help save them from extinction in the wild.

Jane Goodall, who studied chimpanzees in Africa and is a U.N. Messenger of Peace, has written a introduction to the exhibit.

It is Cooper's hope that perhaps by painting their portraits, the captive apes can help save those in the wild. "I invite everyone to look into their eyes," says Cooper, "and they will speak to you."

Before turning his talents to painting portraits of the Great Apes, Cooper worked in the motion picture and television industry as a puppeteer/creature-maker; mostly under the banner of George Lucas' special-effects company Industrial Light and Magic.

Mr. Cooper is a member of the Portrait Society of America.

School groups are welcome. Please contact us to make an appointment.

LOCATION: 998 4th Street, San Rafael, California
Corner of Court and 4th Street

HOURS: THURSDAYS 11am to 9pm
SAT. & SUN. 11am to 3pm
And by appointment.

CONTACT: Robert Cooper
PHONE -(415) 454-7267
EMAIL - apeportraits@aol.com or rcooper@apemuseum.com