It’s one giant leap for frog-kind: launch of new public sculpture ‘Spotted Marsh Frog’

Council has unveiled its latest public art acquisition – the ‘Spotted Marsh Frog’ ­located at Croydon Town Park.

The latest addition to Council’s public art collection, the Spotted Marsh Frog, by acclaimed artist Ian Bracegirdle, features one of Maroondah’s local amphibian species.

The sculpture captures the Spotted Marsh Frog, a species found in the nearby Tarralla Creek Wetlands, as it perches on reeds above its marshland habitat.

Launching the new public artwork on Friday 1 November, representative on the Maroondah Arts Advisory Committee, Deputy Mayor Cr Kylie Spears, said the sculpture would serve as a talking point for visitors to the area.

“As well as being a dramatic and appealing artwork, the sculpture is a creative and engaging reminder of the importance of urban wildlife habitat. It continues a key theme of other recent popular Arts in Maroondah projects and exhibitions which have celebrated Maroondah’s environmental values,” Cr Spears said.

“Of course, this is not just any frog, it’s an artwork of note that is sure to be embraced by the people of Croydon and Maroondah. I can only imagine over the coming years, how many picnics and play-dates will be organised around the phrase, ‘meet you at the frog’.

“The artist has used his diverse skills, not only to create such an impressive oversized likeness of our local amphibian but to do so in such a considered and articulate way. Here, we have the frog, along with its two smaller friends, suspended on the stalks of marsh plants, looking as if it could, at any moment, leap out across Town Park,” she said.

Weighing over 300 kilograms, the larger-than-life likeness of the local amphibian has been hand cast from fibre-reinforced cement, steel and copper.  

For artist Ian Bracegirdle, the past four months spent creating the art piece has been a labour of love.

“She weighs about 350 kilograms and is made of concrete. She is representative of the Spotted Marsh Frog that dwells in Tarralla Creek not far from here (Town Park).

“It took me about four months to make over winter, with my hands in cold buckets of concrete, but I think she was worth it!” says Ian.

Ian has completed many major public artworks, both in Australia and abroad.

He was appointed as the designer for the Melbourne 2006 Melbourne Games which saw the birth of the now famous aquatic creatures that were the centre point for the opening ceremony.

Ian’s involvement at a senior creative and managerial level on recent projects of note includes design and fabrication for the National Museum of Australia, The National War Memorial and various projects for Museum Victoria.

One of Maroondah’s leading community groups in promoting the value of the environment is the Croydon Conservation Society.

Speaking at the launch, the society’s president Liz Sanzaro said that as well as being a magnificent piece of public art, the frog’s presence was a “real environmental asset”.

“Frogs make up about 90 per cent of the class of Amphibians, and the good news is, if there are lots of frogs in an area, it means the ecosystem is healthy,” Ms Sanzaro said.

“This enormous frog (sculpture) is placed in a most suitable location as a symbol of restoring the local natural environment. Tarralla Creek is soon to be ‘daylighted’, meaning the creek will be brought back up to the surface, and restored as important habitat, like nature intended.

“Projects like this help reverse the environmental damage unwittingly done in the past and enrich our lives with opportunities to enjoy nature’s bounty.

“Throughout their lifecycle, frogs have an important place in the food chain. As tadpoles, they eat algae, reducing the chances of deadly algae blooms. Frogs are also an important source of food within the food chain as a food source for birds, lizards, snakes, turtles and water rats,” she said.

Cr Spears said Council was proud of its public arts program.

“Council’s public arts program contributes to the vitality and liveability of our public spaces. Public artworks become conversation pieces between people and provides opportunities to contemplate the world around us.

“I’m sure the Spotted Marsh Frog sculpture will generate plenty of discussion in the community about the importance of preserving our urban wildlife and the challenges we face around sustainability,” Cr Spears added.