Colorful and whimsical black squirrel sculptures will soon begin appearing throughout Marysville as part of the Black Squirrels on Parade project, and as a special preview will be paraded down Broadway during Friday’s Black Squirrel Night, October 28.

To pay homage to Marysville’s black squirrel, the town’s Convention and Tourism committee led the charge for the public art project. Working with the Chamber of Commerce and Marysville Main Street, the committee turned to businesses, individuals and organizations to offer the opportunity to buy a 5-foot-tall fiberglass black squirrel statue.

The project is similar to Chicago’s Cows on Parade that was popular in the late 1990s and Lincoln, Neb.’s current Illuminate Lincoln project that features 6-foot-tall light bulbs.

A total 21 sculptures were sold, and 18 artists were chosen to turn sculptures into a work of art.

Early in the project, the committee asked April Spicer, art teacher at Marysville High School, for help with designing the basic statue. Spicer turned the project over to her students, and 17 of them created a squirrel sculpture prototype for the committee to consider.  Each sculpture was about 18 inches tall.

The design submitted by Rachel Frese was chosen as the prototype.

The committee then contacted Patrick Keough, owner of America's Fiberglass Animals, Seward, Neb. Keough is one of the few fiberglass sculpture artists in the country; he took the original sculpture and turned it into the 5-foot-tall statue.

The squirrels were purchased by businesses, organizations and individuals for a fee of about $1,500; the fee covered production of the squirrel, the artist’s supplies and the artist’s time to design the squirrel. 

Artists were invited to paint, embellish and adorn the squirrels into one-of-a-kind works of art.  Artists were allowed to create individually or to collaborate with the purchaser of the black squirrel.

Purchasers, artists and locations:
• Alliance Insurance, Rebecca Smith, Alliance Insurance.
• Citizens State Bank, Samantha Dummermuth, Citizens State Bank branch.
• Classes of 2016 and 2017, Skylar Rhodes, Marysville USD 364 district office.
• Argo Construction, Crome Lumber, Edwards Quarry, Ground Up Construction, Inline Construction, Latta Plumbing, Nelson Power & Light, Rainbow International, April Spicer, Dargartz Park.
• Frese CPA, Rachel Frese, Lakeview Sports Complex.
• Kickhaefer & Buessing, Marysville Dental Care, Patty Kahn, Marysville Country Club.
• KNDY Radio and Marysville Advocate, Kaci Smith, historic Union Pacific depot.
• The Kessinger family, Rita Brummond, Water Tower Hill.
• The Kramer family, April Spicer and Marysville High School art students, CJ Express West.
• Landoll Corp., Chloe Cudney, Landoll Corp.
• Landoll Lanes, Elizabeth Luppen, Landoll Lanes.
• L.O.V.E. Marysville, Patty Kahn, City Park, east of bandstand.
• Marshall County Arts Cooperative, Marysville Area Community Theatre, Landmark Enterprises, Madison Lynch, Lee Dam Center for Fine Art.
• Marshall County Farm Bureau, Marvin Kramer, Bryan Kracht, Marysville Public Library, Willa Griswold, between the library and Farm Bureau office.
• Marysville Chamber of Commerce, Allison Manley, chamber office.
• Marysville Main Street and Big Blue BBQ, Marysville AutoFest, Aubrie Peschel, Seventh Street Corridor.
• Marysville Garden Club, Willa Griswold, Masonic Temple.
• Super Wash, Connor Crist, Super Wash.
• Walmart, Chloe Cudney, Walmart.
• Cells-U-More, Brad and Sharon Ekiss, First Commerce Bank, Koester House Museum Foundation, Loren and Gloria Smith, Preceptor Zeta chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, Arlene Brunkow Haner, 900 block of Broadway, between the Main Dish and Koester House Museum & Gardens.