Lupe the Mammoth

One July Saturday in 2005, a San Jose resident took a walk with his dog along the Guadalupe River, just north of the San Jose International Airport. He recognized that the objects poking out of the ground that day were clearly unusual -- he had discovered the tusks and skeleton of a mammoth. "Lupe the Mammoth" was inspired by this discovery.

The artwork is a technology-driven design with hand-crafted sensibilities. While the actual mammoth was a juvenile and about 8’ tall, the sculpture measures 12.5’ in height and is made of galvanized steel. The artwork was painstakingly fabricated at Paramount Roll & Forming; bent piece by piece and fit into a notched support structure after which it was galvanized for its final finish. The artwork is titled “Lupe,” but has quickly assumed the nickname Lupe the Mammoth as a popular post on social media; #LupeTheMammoth.