Donald Featherstone (artist)
Encyclopedia
Donald "Don" Featherstone is an American
artist
who is most widely known for his 1957 creation of the Plastic Pink Flamingo
while working for Union Products. Currently Featherstone resides in Fitchburg
, Massachusetts
, where he keeps 57 plastic flamingos on his front lawn. Featherstone and his wife Nancy, have been dressing alike for over 28 years.
. After graduating from the Worcester Art Museum
's art school, in 1957, he was offered a job designing three-dimensional animals for Union Products, Inc. Over his years at Union Products, Featherstone sculpted over 750 different items, the first of which were a girl with a water can and a boy with a dog. When Featherstone was asked to sculpt a duck, he purchased one, which he named Charlie, and later released the bird in Cogshall Park. After carving the duck, still in 1957, he was asked to carve a flamingo. The now iconic pink flamingo went on sale in 1958, when the color pink was popular.
In 1996, Featherstone was awarded the 1996 Ig Nobel Art Prize
for his creation of the Pink Flamingo, and he also began his tenure as president of Union Products which he held until he retired in 2000.
Featherstone based his creation on photographs of flamingos from National Geographic, as he was not able to requisition real flamingos to use as models. As time went on the plastic flamingo became more and more popular. It appeared across the country and even as parts of various art exhibits, and then in 1987, Donald Featherstone inscribed his signature in the original plastic mould. This was apparently to help distinguish between original and "knock-off" Pink Plastic Flamingos. Featherstone's signature stayed on the bird until 2001 when it was removed. The signature was quickly replaced due to a small boycott of the unsigned birds.
On 1 November 2006, Union Products closed, and the Flamingo stopped being produced. Shortly thereafter, a New York
company purchased the moulds for Featherstone's flamingos and sub-contracted production to a Fitchburg, Massachusetts company, Cado Products. In 2010, Cado Products (cadocompany.com) purchased the copyrights & plastic molds for the Pink Flamingos and continues to manufacture them. They are generally sold in sets of two—one holding its head erect, nearly 3 feet high, the other bending over as if looking for food.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
who is most widely known for his 1957 creation of the Plastic Pink Flamingo
Plastic flamingo
Pink plastic flamingos are one of the most famous of lawn ornaments in the United States, along with the garden gnome and other such ornamentation....
while working for Union Products. Currently Featherstone resides in Fitchburg
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Fitchburg is the third largest city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,318 at the 2010 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private elementary and high schools.- History :...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, where he keeps 57 plastic flamingos on his front lawn. Featherstone and his wife Nancy, have been dressing alike for over 28 years.
Biography
Featherstone grew up in Berlin, MassachusettsBerlin, Massachusetts
Berlin is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,866 at the 2010 census.- History :Berlin was first settled in 1665 and was officially incorporated in 1812....
. After graduating from the Worcester Art Museum
Worcester Art Museum
The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 35,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day, representing cultures from all over the world. The WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and is the second largest art museum in New England...
's art school, in 1957, he was offered a job designing three-dimensional animals for Union Products, Inc. Over his years at Union Products, Featherstone sculpted over 750 different items, the first of which were a girl with a water can and a boy with a dog. When Featherstone was asked to sculpt a duck, he purchased one, which he named Charlie, and later released the bird in Cogshall Park. After carving the duck, still in 1957, he was asked to carve a flamingo. The now iconic pink flamingo went on sale in 1958, when the color pink was popular.
In 1996, Featherstone was awarded the 1996 Ig Nobel Art Prize
Ig Nobel Prize
The Ig Nobel Prizes are an American parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early October for ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research. The stated aim of the prizes is to "first make people laugh, and then make them think"...
for his creation of the Pink Flamingo, and he also began his tenure as president of Union Products which he held until he retired in 2000.
Pink Flamingo
On 1 November 2006, Union Products closed, and the Flamingo stopped being produced. Shortly thereafter, a New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
company purchased the moulds for Featherstone's flamingos and sub-contracted production to a Fitchburg, Massachusetts company, Cado Products. In 2010, Cado Products (cadocompany.com) purchased the copyrights & plastic molds for the Pink Flamingos and continues to manufacture them. They are generally sold in sets of two—one holding its head erect, nearly 3 feet high, the other bending over as if looking for food.