Civic Arts Frog

In 2003 Grendel’s Mother was hired by Civic Arts Education of Walnut Creek, California to build a sculpture for its 40th anniversary celebration. The staff at this successful city program asked the artists to create a large scale paper mache version of what had become an icon of the program—a ceramic frog with a lolling tongue.

Grendel’s Mother led a group of teenage artists from local schools in the building of an eight foot by four foot steel armature that successfully replicated the proportions of the original frog. The students were taught how to use bending gigs and the MIG welder. The piece was then covered with plastic netting. Members of the public skinned the sculpture in paper mache at a day long anniversary celebration. The sculpture was later painted by students and installed at the Civic Arts offices.