Davis, California: Caterpillar with 7 Pairs of Shoes

Sculptors Solomon Bassoff and Domenica Mottarella created an 8-foot-long monarch butterfly caterpillar -- children can climb on at Davis Central Park.

Caterpillar with 7 Pairs of Shoes

North San Juan sculptors Solomon Bassoff and Domenica Mottarella unveiled their newest public art piece, an 8-foot-long monarch butterfly caterpillar at Davis Central Park, over the weekend.

The whimsical piece, which includes a different shoe and sock on each of the caterpillar's many feet, was commissioned by the city of Davis.

Bassoff and Mottarella create their works by forming cement around a steel and wire armature. They permanently color the cement with natural mineral pigments, adding other materials that enhance the cement's strength and frost resistance. Many of their pieces include glass mosaic.

The artists have several other pieces in public places, including a field of sunflowers in Hummingbird Park in Sacramento, a Komodo dragon created for Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, and a series of giant bugs and flowers for Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding.

[Solomon Bassoff, 11/28/2010]