Erie, PA Frog Statues

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

2. 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.

4. “Thrifty Hopper”
•What do you feel?
–Hopeful
–Giving
–Hectic because there is so
much 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

5. 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

6. 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?

7. “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.

8. 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.

9. 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?

10. “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.

11. 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” into
Them stand out more. “everleap”.

12. 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?

13. “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

14. 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.

15. 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?

16. “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

17. 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.

18. 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?

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

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. Nation Wide
Examples
Catalina Island, California- Eagles
Zion, Illinois- Bees
Dubuque, Iowa- Frogs
Halifax, Nova Scotia- Lobsters
Baltimore, Maryland- Blue Crab
Rochester, New York- Horses
Buffalo, New York- Buffalo
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania- Cows

24. 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.

25. 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?

26. 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

27. 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?

28. Mind Mapping

29. References
•http://badgertronics.com/photo/erie-frogs/
•Glogster.com
•http://www.rvtravelog.com/city_mascots.dir/city_mascots1.htm
•Inspiration