We are pleased to introduce: Koko: Portrait of a Gorilla Ambassador
by Richard Stone, world-renowned Royal Portrait Painter
The Genesis of Koko's Portrait
A few years ago, Richard Stone, the UK's pre-eminent royal portrait painter, asked Koko to sit for him while he painted her. With the intent of donating all of the proceeds received through the sale of the painting to The Gorilla Foundation's mission, we have been waiting for the right moment to unveil Richard's masterpiece. We are so excited to offer this special painting to the donor who has both the wherewithal and the strong desire to extend Koko's legacy to help ensure the survival of her species.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of Koko's passing, the time now seems right. We invite you to watch the following video for a closer look at the painting, the artist, and the extraordinary relationship that evolved between them, and inspired the creation of "Koko, Portrait of a Gorilla Ambassador":
Meet Richard Stone, Koko, and "their" Painting
(Video)
As you can see, Koko loved sitting for (and with) Richard, who later reflected: "Painting Koko was one of the most memorable projects of my life." While Richard was busy capturing the essence of Koko, he clearly was also moved by Koko in ways he never expected: "What I wasn't prepared for was the powerful effect she has had on me, talking, communicating clearly, her thoughts, in a way that one would never have imagined ... this has been the most life-changing aspect of it." Technically, Richard accomplished what he set out to do, , but "what I was not expecting was for her to have such impact, not just on my thinking about what animals mean to us, but ... on my heart!"
Finally, Richard summed up what he feels is the true purpose of the painting: "I would like to think that owning a portrait like this would give the owner near direct access to Koko. She has had a powerful effect on me and I hope this portrait conveys both a powerful message about what she's about, as well a sense of the privilege of knowing her. Koko is a tremendous communcator for her species. She is the ambassador for the future of her (highly endangered) species. And when she speaks, we should listen."
The value of this once-in-a-lifetime "Portrait of a Gorilla Ambassador" is enhanced by three factors: 1) the artist, Richard Stone, whose wonderfully life-like portraits of famous and awe-inspiring public figures have garnered $1M and more; 2) the subject, Koko, whose presence among us for over four decades has changed the paradigm about gorillas from "King Kong" to "Koko's Kitten" — and allowed humans to "talk with the animals" and truly understand gorillas for the first time, and 3) the work of The Gorilla Foundation, where Koko was raised and mentored with much love (along with gorillas Michael and Ndume) as part of its mission to achieve conservation through communication for gorillas and other endangered great apes.
Selected Highlights of Koko's Legacy (the longest interspecies communication study in history)
King Kong to Koko's Kitten
Cultural Transmission (Baby)
The Voice of Nature (Paris 2015)
National Geographic 1985
National Geographic Kids 2019
Foreign Policy (FP) 2019
Koko & Robin
Koko & Mister Rogers
Koko Meets Dian Fossey
"Love" by Koko
"Bouqet of Flowers" by Michael
"Bird" by Koko
"Koko-Love" (her favorite sign)
Koko emanated love
Koko wanted to help us ...
How Will Koko's Portrait Help Gorillas?
The proceeds from the sale of Richard Stone's "Ambassador Koko" portrait plus the subsequent limited edition prints will provide close to $2M to help The Gorilla Foundation accomplish its mission — Conservation through Communication — and extend Koko's Legacy, via the following Top Initiatives:
The Koko App Learn to sign with Koko as the teacher. This app, which currently exists only as a prototype, will make it fun for millions of people to learn basic American sign language (ASL) from Koko (and Penny) and help translate her many amazing videos. Gorilla caregivers will be able to use it to share care-related signs with their gorillas and possibly to learn more of their many natural gestures. And conservation organizations will be able to use it to convert poachers to protectors.
The Koko Archive The Gorilla Foundation is looking for a partner to host and digitize the entire Project Koko Research Archive, so that all of the data (video, notes, art, etc.) can be protected, preserved and shared with both other researchers and the general public. The archive includes over 1000 hours of research video, 50,000 pages of coded research notes, and numerous pieces of gorilla art and other gorilla creations. Collaborative archival — assisted by AI — is necesary for others build upon our work.
The Koko Sanctuary We have 70 acres of leased land in the hills of West Maui (Hawaii), and up to 250 adjacent to potentially buy. This land should be used to create the first natural gorilla sanctuary outside Africa. We have at least one prospective partner in the UK with gorillas in need of such a home. Together, we can model new "virtual" gorilla exhibits that feature large open spaces, nondisruptive interactive video, interspecies communication-guided care and basic gorilla personhood rights (eg, safety, choice, privacy).
In summary, we are grateful to Richard Stone for painting Koko so that she will always be remembered as a "spokesperson" for great apes, and for offering to donate the proceeds from the painting's sale to The Gorilla Foundation's mission. This will help us accomplish the above initiatives and extend Koko's Legacy of interspecies empathy, communication and love, well beyond her lifetime.
Please contact me if you are interested in matching Richard's generosity, owning his exclusive painting, and helping us fulfill our mission and Koko's vision of a world where humans are simply more "polite" to gorillas (and each other).
Thank you!
Francine "Penny" Patterson, Ph.D.
President, CEO and Director of Research
The Gorilla Foundation / koko.org
Contact: [email protected] or: 650.743.4418
