If you’re looking for The 2024 Chicago Cicada Parade-a check out:
www.cicada2024.com
A large-scale collaborative art project organized by Formstone Castle Collective that has been on display in and around the greater Baltimore area starting in May and running through the end of summer 2021. This project celebrates the re-emergence of Brood X, central Maryland’s 17-year cicada brood, which returned by the trillions to Maryland during spring and summer 2021 to re-emerge, sing, and meet others.
Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who supported the Cicada Parade-a in 2021. This art project became my ENTIRE 2021 with bugs going out through Christmas. This project would not have been possible without the help of friends, family, and all the artists. Over 170 artists took time to decorate sculptures for free and hung them up all over Maryland not knowing if they’d ever see them again. While some pieces did go missing, the vast majority survived the whole summer, some went on the be auctioned off at the September 21st Wrap Party. The Cicada Parade-a was able to donate $10,500 to Backyard Basecamp with the auction proceeds!
The final limited edition Holiday Cicadas were sold and raised $300o toward construction of the new Formstone Castle art studio. Now, rather than working at the mercy of the weather, I can create art year round, host workshops and classes and give back even more to the community.
Thank you for making Cicada Parade-a a huge success! Maybe we’ll do it again in 17 years.
Lead Artist,
Michael Bowman
Formstone Castle LLC
www.formstonecastleart.com
T-Shirts are still available too: www.cicadas2021.com
FUNDRAISING AUCTION A GREAT SUCCESS!
We’re still getting bugs sold at the fundraising auction out to buyers and will soon have a final tally of how much money we raised for Backyard Basecamp. Keep checking back for an announcement of the final amount donated! Thank you to all the generous artists, bidders and sponsors who made this possible.
Most of the sculptures have been de-installed and either returned to their artists or rehomed via our auction. Explore the pieces virtually on the map below. Enlarge the map with the button in the top right corner to navigate in Google Maps. Green bugs indicate bugs supported by our sponsors. Deinstalled bugs are marked with a blue bug. Red bugs are still on display!
Have you seen a cicada sculpture in distress? LET US KNOW!
A natural part of the cicada story is that of attrition. They come out by the trillions so that a few million can survive long enough to breed and lay eggs. While we expect some attrition throughout the project, it would help keep smiles on faces if we can save sculptures from damage before it is too late. Use this form to report any damage, vandalism, theft or tampering of pieces. We will repair what we can and keep our public spaces clean by removing destroyed cicadas. It will also help us to update the map if a piece no longer exists.
Introducing the OFFICIAL Cicada Parade-a T-shirt
Help support the work of the Cicada Parade-a artists with our official T-shirt designed by Justin Duvall @Lookysquares. $25 + tax and shipping @ www.cicadas2021.com
This amazing design by Justin includes many details beyond just the name “Cicada Parade-a” such as our theme “Power in Numbers”, “2021”, the life cycle of the cicada, the noise making tymbal of the cicada, and prime numbers hidden throughout.
Shirts are printed in Maryland by Prodigy DTG who’s fast turn around had a shirt in my hands less than 24 hours after we sent them the design.
PURCHASE SHIRTS FOR YOUR WHOLE BROOD
Carving the Pattern
A pattern was hand carved from a block of plaster by artist Michael Bowman who also made a silicone mold to cast the rest. Each cicada sculpture is cast from Plaster of Paris and has copper wire legs. They are 18 inches long and weigh 8lbs.
Participate
Formstone Castle Collective is organizing Cicada Parade-a, but the project has been a collaborative group effort since the beginning. If you’d like to join the collaboration, please check out our Facebook group: Cicada Art Project 2021
Click here to be added to our update email list or simply send us an email: cicadas@formstonecastleart.com
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Thank You DAP Products Inc.
We’re happy to announce that DAP Products Inc. Headquartered just down the street, has donated their Plaster of Paris product so that we can realize our dreams of creating 100 cicada sculptures. Thank you to the DAP Products team for bringing more art to Baltimore.
Creativity Grant Funding provided by Maryland State Arts Council
Founded in 1967, The Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) is an agency of the State of Maryland’s Department of Commerce that plays an essential role, ensuring every person has access to the transformative power of the arts.