The Cicadas Are Coming! Maryland Artist Celebrates Their Arrival With Plastic Sculptures
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The cicadas are coming!
In just a few weeks, the cicada season will start here in Maryland and some Baltimoreans are preparing to welcome them with some art.
"We're about to be treated to one of the most spectacular events on planet Earth!" said Michael Raupp, a professor of entomology at the University of Maryland.
After 17 years in hibernation, the cicadas are coming.
Soon, cicadas will get up out of the ground and look to perch on something vertical.
"That could be a tree, the side of the house, or if you're standing still, it could be you," Raupp said.
These winged singers are loud but come in peace.
"Singing their heart out. Cicadas don't bite, cicadas don't sting, cicadas don't fly away with dogs and small children," Raupp said.
Michael Bowman, a local artist, is celebrating their arrival by making plaster cicada sculptures.
He's starting out with a hundred sculptures
"To put them in public places so everybody can enjoy them!" he said.
A map will mark their spots.
"We want people to explore our city and find all of the little corners and all the little hidden bugs!" Bowman said.
Each will be a bug of beauty for both the cicadas and Baltimore residents to enjoy.
"I thought we would all need something, just like the cicadas, when we all emerge from a long period of darkness, to have something beautiful to look at," Bowman said.
