WHO'S WHO AT THE ZOO
Kyle Newsome Senior Exhibits Technician
How long have you worked at the zoo? I’ve worked at the zoo for two tours. The first tour 2013–2016, the second tour is 2017–present. What does a day in your shoes look like? I think to say that every day is different is an understatement. Our department, exhibits, is very multifaceted. To be able to fabricate things is helpful for a lot of areas in the zoo. Day to day there are several projects underway. You’ll find us doing anything from creating special effects and props for an event to making repairs or additions to animal enclosures. What influences your works’ esthetic? The esthetic is dictated by the area or event. Personally, I enjoy the more realistic and representational styles rather than the more stylistic, cartoony, or abstract. Most of what we do here is representational. You’re making a tree look like a tree not your interpretation of a tree.
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WILD MAGAZINE • SPRING 2022 • JACKSONVILLE ZOO AND GARDENS
What was your break-through piece and why? There is a phase one dragon from 2014. This dragon head was a scare feature for Spooktacular. We had it hooked up to a CO2 tank that would blast CO2 and we flooded the vapor with LEDs. It was pretty convincing that the dragon was breathing fire. We hadn’t done anything large scale like that in exhibits before. When we did that dragon head it opened the door to give us leeway to do bigger and better things.
