Art and animals

Diane Villa ’85 walks on the wild side — literally.

The fine arts graduate serves as the interim director of the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, home to 1,700 animals — from the addra gazelle to the zebra.

“Every day at the North Carolina Zoo is wildly different, and I am always discovering something new to learn,” Villa said. “My deep connection to the natural world has always been central to who I am, and finding a career that marries creativity and a passion for nature has been a dream.”

Villa has worked at the zoo in various roles for 31 years. Her bachelor’s in studio art/painting provided a foundation for her roles as the zoo’s art director, curator of design and then director of communications and marketing.

“My degree in painting taught me a visual vocabulary and cultivated my eye for aesthetics,” she said. “I’ve used my fine arts background in many ways. Marketing and design are perhaps the most obvious, but I’ve also used these skills while designing spaces for people that are immersive, engaging and memorable. Painting is a visual narrative — and I still tell stories, but in other ways and means now.”

Her vision shows in the zoo’s Watani Grasslands Reserve, for which she designed the habitat interpretation for visitors. The reserve received the Significant Achievement in Exhibits award in 2009 from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The reserve includes Villa’s favorite zoo animal, a 51-year-old African bull elephant named C’sar.

“He represents all the care we give our animals,” she said. “He is old and mostly blind now, but he knows his way around and even does yoga to remain flexible. Our care teams go to extraordinary measures to ensure he is engaged and active, plus he has four female African elephants who adore him. Looking out across the Watani Grasslands and seeing the elephant herd is the closest thing to being on safari in Africa. It truly is an impressive 40-acre natural habitat.”

Villa is focused on the scheduled summer opening of the 12.5-acre Asia Continent exhibit, the zoo’s first major expansion in more than 30 years. It will give residents one more reason to visit.

“From getting face-to-face with chimpanzees to seeing critically endangered American red wolves, the range of encounters you can have at the North Carolina Zoo can’t be beat. And it’s meaningful,” Villa said. “Your visit supports our wildlife conservation mission. We do the work to protect endangered animals and save wild places both here and across the globe.

“Every year I delight in watching young children see a giraffe or other iconic animal for the first time. I remember when I was a child what an impact seeing these marvelous animals had on me and how it influenced my daily choices as an adult. Animals and wild places need our help. We are all stewards of the planet, and a visit to the zoo helps put that in perspective.”

Editor’s note: C’sar, the zoo’s original elephant, died Dec. 19. WTVD has more in this report.