Menagerie is the term for a historical form of keeping calm and exotic animals in human captivity and therefore a predecessor of the modern zoological garden. The term was foremost used in seventeenth century France originally for the management of the household or domestic stock, but later primarily for an aristocratic or royal animal collection. The French-language "Methodical Encyclopedia" of 1782 defines a menagerie as an "establishment of luxury and curiosity." Later on the term referred also to traveling animal collections that exhibited wild animals at fairs across Europe and the Americas.

To introduce yourself to your fellow students and staff, we want you to think about what kind of animal you’d be, that sums up your personality. There’s a saying that owners always look like their pets. That might be one approach. Or some animals are associated with particular traits, pelicans with self sacrifice, tigers with ferociousness, or elephants with long memories. Or think of the zodiac, are you a scorpion or a crab? At the end of the project all your creations will be gathered together in the Sculpture Court in a First Year Menagerie.