Foundation Hopes to Net Funds With a Butterfly Collection

Daniel du Plessis has a yellow butterfly in his studio. Standing 5 feet tall and sporting a wingspan of 24 inches, it soars above his canvasses and tubes of paint. In addition to its abundant stature, a few other details cause the insect to stand out: It has a head made of plastic grapes and pipe cleaners, with a body that once was a water bottle.

“They are found objects,” explained Du Plessis, 51, an artist who teaches at Cypress College and has a studio in Tustin. “These are things that I have transformed.”

So far he’s spent about 36 hours transforming them and expects to spend at least six hours more. The goal: a contribution to an Orange County Butterfly Initiative -- an idea, its originators believe, whose time has come.

“We wanted to have something, more than words, to really demonstrate our commitment to the Orange County community,” said Jaimee C. Niles, head of strategic alliances and community marketing for KOCE-TV Channel 50, the county’s PBS affiliate.

The station was recently sold to the KOCE-TV Foundation, which is run by civic and business leaders who have pledged to maintain the station’s PBS affiliation. Part of the new owners’ kickoff plans, Niles said, involve raising money by covering the county with butterflies. “Butterfly means beauty, strength and transformation,” she said. “It’s a beautiful metaphor for where we are at KOCE and where we are as a county.”

The station recruited more than 45 Southern California artists -- including Du Plessis and well-known Laguna Beach-based muralist Wyland -- to donate their time for charity and public exposure by creating butterflies with materials of their choosing. Each artist was provided with a metal stand and butterfly frame measuring either 2 or 5 feet across. The rest, Niles said, was up to them.

The frames were also offered for purchase -- at $1,030 apiece -- to Orange County’s cities, 11 of which have responded with plans to create their own butterflies for display at prominent points.

In February, Niles said, the artists’ butterflies will be exhibited at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar. And on March 4, she said, they will be auctioned for prices expected to top $2,500.

“I’ve already got collectors calling,” said Niles, adding that proceeds from the project -- which, including corporate donations, sponsorships and sales could amount to $100,000 -- will go toward setting up a permanent endowment for education in the sciences and arts.

For artists, Du Plessis said, the project “cuts both ways: It does something for the community and gives me an opportunity to exhibit my work.”

Plus, he added, “I enjoy being in unusual venues.”

Niles, for her part, hopes the Butterfly Initiative becomes an annual event.

But even if that doesn’t happen, she said, “these butterflies will be here for years.”