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Colorado Vignette - Denver Botanic Gardens

Get a bug's eye view of the world when you encounter a 1,200-pound praying mantis, a 7-foot assassin bug and eight other enormous natural sculptures at the Big Bugs exhibit at Denver Botanic Gardens, March 24-June 24, 2007. The gigantic sculptures are created using various combinations of whole trees found standing or fallen dead, cut green saplings selectively harvested from the willow family, dry branches and other forest materials. The different shapes, colors and textures of these materials provide the sculptures with character, definition and a sense of motion. The weight of the sculptures varies from 30 to 1,200 pounds. As an example of the size, the ladybug is 7 feet long, 4 feet wide and 3 feet high; the ants are 25 feet long, 12 feet wide and 10 feet high.

All of the bugs will be displayed in natural settings throughout the Gardens, including in the Monet Garden pool. The roster of ten bugs includes three ants, a praying mantis, a dragonfly, a spider in its web, a grasshopper, a damselfly, an assassin bug and a lady bug.

"Insects are hidden gardeners, and without them places like Denver Botanic Gardens wouldn't exist," said artist David Rogers. "This exhibit truly highlights the importance of insects to gardens, and gives humans a very different perspective on our 'tiny' friends."

The Big Bugs exhibit grand opening on Saturday, March 24 will be a free day for visitors and will include a full day of exciting activities for the entire family: Throughout the day: Cockroach races, and the Butterfly Pavilion will bring Rosie the tarantula, a stick bug and a Madagascar cock roach to view and touch.

Artist David Rogers, of Glenwood Landing, N.Y., began sculpting at age 13. Initially welding abstract sculptures from discarded metal scraps, in the mid-1970s his attention turned to common insects and new materials such as forest products. After a 10-year period of working in other media, in 1990 he returned to outdoor sculptures. Following initial works of dinosaurs using saplings, branches and vines, he began dinosaursized insects. The complete Big Bugs exhibit first debuted at the Dallas Arboretum in 1994, and in total consists of 40 sculptures

Denver Botanic Gardens is located at 1005 York Street in Denver, Colorado. Visit us at www.botanicgardens.org or call 720-865-3500 for more information.

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