It will give wildlife spotting a twist.
The Highland Hospice yesterday launched a fundraising art trail that will include 20 five foot tall red squirrel sculptures across the Highlands.
Renowned fine art sculptor Scott Gleed has been commissioned to design the sculptures, with the trail expected to go live for summer time next year.
Mr Gleed said: “The first thing for me is to come up with the design to allow the artist maximum canvas space and as clean a canvas as possible.
“Effectively the whole process resembles that of making a boat.
“Usually I am designing life-sized sharks which are then taken all over the world. The beauty of this project is because I am local, constant communication channels between the team at the hospice and myself can be maintained – and if they want to they are more than welcome to come down and get hands on.”
Highland Hospice is looking for companies or groups to sponsor individual squirrels for the duration of their involvement in the trail, before they will be auctioned off in October 2019 to raise funds to serve the work of the hospice.
Artists from all backgrounds are invited to submit designs to decorate the different sculptures.
Jenna Hayden, events fundraiser at Highland Hospice, said: “We are putting this out to anybody, whether that is UHI students, abstract graffiti artists or whoever.
“Companies, individuals, or groups who choose to sponsor a squirrel will come along to an event where they will decide the design of their sculpture.
“It is our intention to have 20 sponsors, with 13 of the sculptures going on display in our Highland towns which have one of our shops. Seven to 10 will go on display across the city of Inverness, giving us a Highland trail and a city trail.
“Sponsors will have a plaque on their sponsored sculpture with their information displayed on our website and trail maps. We are also exploring the idea of having an app related to the trail.”
A minimum sum of £1,000 is asked from businesses or groups who wish to sponsor one of the five foot red squirrels.
Lisa Long, Highland Hospice’s corporate fundraiser, said: “The project is going to be a beneficial attraction for the Highlands and is really exciting for locals and tourists. It provides a great opportunity for businesses to get involved and hopefully the project will raise a lot of money which is vital to keeping our free service open.”
