FIND ME. TAKE ME HOME!
FREE ART BY JM ARTISTS!
FIND A CHATHAM RABBIT IN SILER CITY.
TAKE IT HOME. IT’S YOURS!
POST OR SEND US A PHOTO TO ENTER THE PRIZE DRAWING.
Welcome to Chatham Rabbit Quest, a free art giveaway and educational project celebrating local history and some of the world’s greatest artists! Jordan-Matthews High School artists are creating rabbit paintings on wood and releasing them into the wild. Some are outdoors, others are indoors, but they’re all over Siler City.
If you find one, it’s yours to keep! And there’s a QR code on the back so you can learn all about your rabbit. But that’s not all! Take a selfie or two with your rabbit for social media — so we can share it with the community — and we’ll also enter you in a prize drawing.
Want to learn more about the Chatham Rabbit Quest? Check out the Q&A below and click on any rabbit in our gallery for more about that painting and its artist.
THE CHATHAM RABBITS
click on each rabbit for more as available
what’s the deal with a chatham Rabbit?
Huge, wild rabbits were all over Chatham County for decades around the turn of the 20th century — so many that they became famous. People came from everywhere to harvest Chatham Rabbits for cheap food and they were even shipped to restaurants as far away as New York City and Boston. The entire scene was so odd that media coverage was everywhere. Jokes were told. Legends were born. Eventually, predators and overhunting ended this intriguing chapter of local history. But Chatham Rabbits are not forgotten; they’re remembered today by a touring musical group and a beloved coffee shop.
Click here for more on the history.
Click here for more on the band.
Click here for more on the coffee shop.
HOW LONG DOES the chatham rabbit QUEST LAST?
Chatham Rabbits will be “hiding in plain sight” until each one is found and adopted into a good home. But this year’s Chatham Rabbit Quest officially begins on May 1 with more rabbits released into the wild all month. We’ll hold a prize drawing on June 15 for anyone who adopted a rabbit and enters. Our prize is a $50 gift certificate at — you guessed it! — The Chatham Rabbit coffee shop in downtown Siler City.
found a rabbit! HOW DO I ENTER THE DRAWING?
Post a photo (or a few) of you and your Chatham Rabbit — be fun and creative! — on Facebook, Instagram or Threads and tag us @JMHSarts. Or, send us your photo by DM or email to info@jmarts.org. We’ll celebrate by sharing your photo and entering you in the prize drawing. We’ll contact the winner directly after June 15 and announce the winner on JMArts Facebook, Instagram and Threads. (And follow us for Chatham Rabbit posts!)
what inspired THE RABBIT PAINTINGS?
Each JM artist was inspired by a legendary artist they selected. These paintings on wood panels reflect the styles of artists like Vincent van Gogh, Picasso and Sandro Botticelli. Click on any Chatham Rabbit in the gallery above — or scan the QR code on the back of any Chatham Rabbit — to learn more about that painting, JM artist and their inspiration.
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THIS IDEA?
Actually, it was suggested by Jane Andrews, who donated the wood panels used as canvases for Chatham Rabbits. (Thank you, Jane!) The “Chatham Rabbit Quest” idea was developed by JM art teacher Laura Newman.
Click here soon to learn more!