Francis the Praying Mantis

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Francis the Praying Mantis
Francis the Praying Mantis.jpg
Francis the Praying Mantis
MediumSculpture
Subject Praying mantis
Location New York City, New York, U.S.
Coordinates 40°38′32″N74°06′06″W / 40.64232°N 74.10173°W / 40.64232; -74.10173

Francis the Praying Mantis is the name of a sculpture depicting a praying mantis. The sculpture is located on the East Meadow in front of the Staten Island Children's Museum, on the grounds of Sailors' Snug Harbor, in Staten Island, New York, United States. [1]

The original sculpture, built in 1991, was constructed from wood. It was designed and built by New York artist Robert Ressler. [2]

Francis was redesigned, fabricated and donated by self-taught Staten Island artist Lenny Prince, after the original began to deteriorate. Francis "2.0" is crafted from over 50 pieces of sculpted metals, including sheet metal and stainless steel, various sized muffler pipes, re-bar and other found metal objects. [3] [4] The realistic multi-lensed eyes are crafted from catalytic converters. [5]

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References

  1. Deborah E. Young (2011-11-13). "Woe is mantis: Landmark sculpture at Children's Museum loses its head". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  2. Michael Brenson (1991-06-26). "Cityful of Sculpture Under the Sky". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  3. Advance, Staten Island (2012-11-11). "Staten Island Children's Museum will host 'Circle of Friends'". silive. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  4. "Lenny's Creations in Staten Island, NY". fotospot.com. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  5. Staten Island Advance (2011-10-14). "Francis the Praying Mantis". Staten Island Advance. Retrieved 2011-12-05.