erie, pa frog statues

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The City of Erie’s Frog Statues By Megan Rasmussen, Brittany Jeffords and Amber Schaefer

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Page 1: Erie, PA Frog Statues

The City of Erie’s Frog Statues

By Megan Rasmussen, Brittany Jeffords and Amber

Schaefer

Page 2: Erie, PA Frog Statues

The Meaning behind the Frogs

• Erie’s “Leapfrog Project” started on June 8, 2004.

• Started to represent the five promises, organized by students and teachers on behalf of Erie’s children and youth.

• Lake Erie art project that exhibits 100 fiberglass frog statues created by local artists.

• Civic pride• Each frog stands about 8 feet tall and

starts as a blank slate for the artists.

Page 3: Erie, PA Frog Statues
Page 4: Erie, PA Frog Statues

“Thrifty Hopper”

• What do you feel?– Hopeful– Giving– Hectic because there is somuch going on this frog- Overwhelmed by the hidden

• What do you hear?– Voices of little children– Cars going down the street– Fast and upbeat music– Fans cheering– The noise of a T.V.

• What do you smell?– The crisp afternoon air– A sports field when I Look at the football

Page 5: Erie, PA Frog Statues

What do you notice?• We felt like the face stood out the most because:• The different pieces of art all added onto one frog

• The words on the side of the face• The two different eyes

• The T.V. buttons represent the nose• How every picture or word is interconnected by the same lines

• Rollerblades sitting right next to a sock• All the lines on the face seem to have the same thickness• The mouth is closed on this frog where as with some other

frogs it was opened• Smoothness of the frog

• Very simple statue, however the art work on it is very diverse

Page 6: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Questions

• Why did the artist use so many random pictures?

• What was the artist trying to portray?• Why is the frog wearing a suit?

• Is there a meaning behind the book with names in it? Did they design the frog?

• How did the artist choose what pictures and words to use when designing the

frog?

Page 7: Erie, PA Frog Statues

“Glofrog” • What do you feel?

-strength

-warmth-hopeful

-protected -safety

• What do you smell? - the crisp air on a sunny day

• What do you hear? - Traffic in the city of Erie.

- - People talking on the streets as they walk by.

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What do you notice?We noticed the blue hand the most.

• The single blue hand represents Highmark.• The frog was all one color.

• The frog was almost transparent, especially in the sun.• Making the hand blue made it stand out the most.

• From far away the frog almost looked white and all you really noticed was the single blue hand.

Page 9: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Questions?

• Why did the artists decide to only paint one hand blue?

• Why is the rest of the frogs body almost transparent?

• What is the connection with the name “Glofrog” and the location?

• How is this significant to Erie?

Page 10: Erie, PA Frog Statues

“Froggy Bogboa”• What did you feel?-pride -power-determination-friendliness from the

expression on the frogs face- • What did you smell?-freshly cut grass of the field

next to the statue. -food from the restaurant near

by.

• What did you hear? -the theme song from the movie

“Rocky” -cars driving by -a crowd as if we were at a

boxing match.

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What did you notice?The Boxing Boot The punching

glove-We noticed all the detail in - We thought it

was the boot with the laces clever of the artist to -The black and white color made change “everlast” intoThem stand out more. “everleap”.

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Questions?

• Why did the artist choose to make a boxing frog?

• What is the significance? • Is the name of the frog connected

with the famous boxing Rocky Bogboa?

• Why did the artist pick the location in Erie that they did?

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“Leap into your Reflection”•What do you feel?

- self reflection- attitude

- you would never feel the same way twice when looking

at this frog because of the diversity it offers, you could always see something more

•What do you smell?-fresh air from the warm, sunny

day-fresh cut grass

•What do you hear?-cars driving down the road

-the wind blowing

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What did you notice?• This particular up close shot of this frog stood out the most to us because you

can see the different reflections each small mirror on it portray.• Another noticing was that it almost looks like the fiberglass on this frog is put

together with a thick glue or some sort of putty.• It looked like “Leap into your Reflection” frog was standing with attitude, but

still smiling confidently.

Page 15: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Questions?

• Why did the artist use a vast amount of mirrors to construct this frog?

• Is there a significant reason for the mirrors, or was it random?

• Does the artist want the people that look at this frog to have certain

thoughts? Or is it just so they can see themselves through all different

mirrors?

Page 16: Erie, PA Frog Statues

“Statue of Riberty”

• What do you feel?-patriotism

-pride-hope

-the excitement from the frogs face

• What do you smell?-flowers blossoming, trees, and fresh

cut grass

• What do you hear?-children’s laughter from Grover

Cleveland Elementary School-the Pledge of Allegiance

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What did you notice?

• We noticed the toes on this frog the most because each one of them had some type of sports ball on them.

• The colors of this particular frog stuck out as well because they were so bright and diverse.

• The placement of this frog seemed to have significance in it because it could be used as assistance for a lesson to be taught.

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Questions?

• Why did the artist name this frog “Statue of Riberty?” Was it to link it to

the Statue of Liberty?• Why were such bright colors used in

this frogs construction?• What was the significance of the

different sports balls on each toe of the frogs foot?

• Why was this frog placed in front of Grover Cleveland Elementary School?

Page 19: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Curricular Connections

The students can research different cities’ statue mascots each month/week. While also learning about the “real” life animal the mascot represents.

Page 20: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Personal Connections

Brittany- I was interested in this project because I can relate the Erie frogs to the buffalo we have in Buffalo, NY. The made them in around 2002 and I remember they had them all on display downtown and I took many pictures of all of them. I also enjoyed this project because it was not only fun to look for the locations of the frogs, it was also fun to see the differences in the artwork and themes of each of them. My favorite frog was the “Thrifty Frog” because there was so much going on with all the lines, images, designs, and words that I probably could have starred at it for over an hour and discovered new things I didn’t see earlier.

Page 21: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Megan- This project interested me because I am from Rochester, NY where our city has Horses as their mascot. When I came to Erie I immediately noticed that they had frog statues everywhere just like at home. I noticed the originality and uniqueness in each one. After observing 5 of the statues in Erie, PA I found the “Froggy Bogboa” to be the most interesting. I thought that it was very clever of the artist to name it that, and then use such detail in the boots and change “Everlast” to “Everleap”. I would love to explore other cities to see how each of their unique mascot is decorated.

Page 22: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Amber- I found the Erie Frog Statues to be very unique and interesting because I have never seen anything like it before. I grew up in a small town and we never had a mascot that was placed all over, portraying all different things. This allowed me to take the time and actually observe the different frogs, placed all over the city and learn more about them. It also gave me an opportunity to learn about other mascots that different cities have as well as Erie.

Page 23: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Nation Wide Examples

Catalina Island, California- EaglesZion, Illinois- BeesDubuque, Iowa- FrogsHalifax, Nova Scotia- LobstersBaltimore, Maryland- Blue CrabRochester, New York- HorsesBuffalo, New York- BuffaloHarrisburg, Pennsylvania- Cows

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Activities for Students

History-History- students can research the history behind the construction of each frog and why the city of Erie chose to use it as their Mascot. They can also research other cities animal statues.

Art-Art- students can design the pattern for their own frog. The students can choose where they would like their frog statue to be located.

Math-Math- students can measure the height and width of the frog. Students can then compare and contrast their findings with the class.

Science-Science- The students can study the anatomy of a “real frog”. The students can also explore the materials used for the construction of the Erie frog statues.

English/WritingEnglish/Writing- Students can create a journal that has their findings, observations and personal thoughts on each frog. Students can also write an explanation of their individual frog designs.

Geography-Geography- Students can measure the distance between each frog and create a map of Erie showing where they are located.

Page 25: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Possible Lines of Inquiry

• What inspired the artists to pick a particular theme when designing each different fiberglass frog?

• How did the artist choose what element(s) to use when constructing their frogs?

• What was the deciding factor in the placement of each frog?

• How were artist chosen?

Page 26: Erie, PA Frog Statues

Key Ideas• Difference in each frog design• The broad range of artists • Themes chosen by the city and artist• Uniqueness and originality in each

frog • The meaning behind the frog

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Line of Inquiry

After viewing five frog statues in Erie, PA, how was each frog designed, selected and constructed by the chosen artists and what was beneficial and unique about the different frogs and their background history?

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Mind Mapping

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References

• http://badgertronics.com/photo/erie-frogs/

• Glogster.com

• http://www.rvtravelog.com/city_mascots.dir/city_mascots1.htm

• Inspiration