(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – If you thought Cows on Parade was something, wait until you see the giant cicadas.
An Avondale not-for-profit museum, The Insect Asylum, is co-sponsoring a citywide exhibit that coincides with the emergence of 17- and 13-year periodical cicadas in Illinois.
It is casting hundreds of oversized plaster cicada statues that artists will decorate with their respective styles. The cicadas will be stationed at locations in and around Chicago – a “Cicada Parade-a,” according to organizers.
“This project is a way for us to all share a joy of something together,” Insect Asylum founder Nina Salem said Wednesday.
Michael Bowman, lead artist of the public art project co-sponsored by Baltimore’s Formstone Castle, said he hopes it inspires residents to “find new parts of their city that they didn’t even know existed until they were chasing down cicadas one summer day.”
Orders are still being taken for people who’d like to sponsor a cicada sculpture or for artists who want to acquire one for decorating. The statues will be displayed beginning in May. For more information, click here.
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