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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PBS' Design Squad Creates GIANT BUGS
Sculptures Created in Competition and On Display
Design Squad, PBS' weekly engineering design show for kids ages 9 and up, tackles the creation of giant insect sculptures with advice from David Rogers.
Framingham, Massachusetts May 30, 2008CONTACT:
Debra Strick, Marketing and PR Director
508.877.7630 x3501 dstrick@newenglandWILD.org
Images Contact: Steven Ziglar, Corporate and PR Associate
508-877-7630 x 3503 sziglar@newenglandWILD.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PBS’ Design Squad Teens Create Giant Bugs on Display
at New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods
BIG BUGS Exhibit July 12-October 31, 2008
Framingham, Massachusetts – Stalking through the woods, pouncing on broken limbs … it’s David Rogers collecting branches! Rogers is the BIG BUGS man, the artist whose sculptures bring thousands face to face with giant insects, coming to New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods July 12-October 31, 2008 180 Hemenway Road, Framingham. 508-877-7630 www.newenglandwild.org.
Teen engineers tackle the creation of giant insect sculptures with advice from David Rogers on PBS’ Design Squad, a weekly competition show aimed at kids and people of all ages with the goal of getting viewers excited about the design process and engineering. David Rogers believes insects don’t get the respect they deserve. “Insects play this vital role in a garden, but are unnoticed, so I put them on such a large scale that you can’t help but notice them,” Rogers explains. And now, WGBH and New England Wild Flower Society, America’s oldest plant conservation group, team up to help everyone make contact with “the little things that run the world.”
"WGBH and Design Squad are thrilled to partner with New England Wild Flower Society to showcase engineering as an artistic endeavor," says Executive Producer Marisa Wolsky. "The cast was incredibly jazzed by working with artist David Rogers and having their sculptures be part of the Big Bugs exhibit.” The actual Design Squad sculptures will be on view adjacent to the “Build-a-Bug” Interactive Park on the BIG BUGS trail at Garden in the Woods, and featured on the insect episode, airing in May in New Hampshire on NHPT and June 1 in Massachusetts on WGBH. Check local broadcast listings or view the segment online at www.pbs.org/designsquad.
Rogers’ BIG BUGS sculptures appear in exhibits from coast to coast and now invade New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods. View BIG BUGS from July 12-October 31 at Garden in the Woods and come nose to knee with an 18-foot, 1,200 pound preying mantis and 12 more enormous creations amid 1,500 native plant species in a glorious 45-acre native plant garden. Become a “BUGOLOGIST”. Have your map stamped on two separate “Web-of-Life Extravaganza” weekends and receive a special pin. Submit your BIG BUGS photos and digital artwork to the online art gallery at bigbugsart@newenglandwild.org. View the concert and event schedule, cool bug facts, places to stay near the exhibit, and more at the “visit” pages of www.newenglandwild.org.
The Society hosts a Grand Opening Day on July 12. “MEET THE BEETLES” with Beatles Tribute Band HELP! from 1-3 p.m. The festivities include an ongoing Web-of-life Extravaganza of special events, emphasizing the important relationships between plants, bugs, and humans—and fun! Look for costumed bug characters, live bug displays, crafts in the garden, weekend festivals, the “Build-a-Bug” interactive bug park, and Design Squad’s creations on the BIG BUGS trail.
Celebrate the connections between the bugs, plants, and all of us. Stop by the native plant nursery and select favorite butterfly plants and other special native plants for beauty in multiple seasons. New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods is open 9-7 daily through Labor Day; 9-5 daily September 2-October 31. The living museum includes hundreds of rare and endangered native plants—so rare in fact, that you are likely seeing them for the first time.
Design Squad debuted on PBS in April 2007. The series was created in response to a national imperative to attract more young people to engineering studies and careers. Using a lively reality show/competition format, the series combines energy, enthusiasm, teamwork, and especially humor to excite kids ages nine and up about engineering. The series is hosted by twenty-something mechanical engineer Nate Ball who over the course of 13 half-hour episodes guides 8 teenagers as they compete at building innovative and whimsical designs for real world clients. The competition leads up to a finale episode where the winner takes home a $10,000 cash prize provided by the Intel Foundation. The second season of Design Squad is currently airing on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings). Season two episodes can be watched in full at pfs.org/designsquad.
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