Prairie Dogs greeting in the Children's Garden in Myriad Botanical Gardens, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Each prairie dog is L 42” x H 22” x W 16”
Installed 2014

In the spirit of the Great Plains, I chose the prairie dog as one of the images that I think best personifies this region. Because this is a sculpture in the Children’s Garden, I see the prairie dog as a fun animal that children can easily relate to. They are cute, fluffy, furry, cuddly and playful animals. However, because they are rarely pets that children can pat and interact with, this is an opportunity for children to do just that - play with them, pat them, sit on them, pretend feed them, and crawl in and around them. Prairie dogs have a unique way of greeting each other and my sculpture shows that adorable meeting - they come together and kiss. Actually, they are grooming each other. Meeting in this way. however, allows a child to crawl through the sort of bridge the two prairie dogs make with their embrace. The animals are also in a pose that allows children to SAFELY sit on their backs as well. Each prairie dog is approximately 42” long from head to tail, 16” wide and 24” tall.

Read more about the lives of Prairie Dogs, in the short story I have written.

See also the Prairie Dogs Friendship Maquette.