Chromosaurs
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2008
1
9
23
Trip End
Dec 03, 2008
Grand Prairie,
Texas,
United States
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Grand Prairie is one of the many suburbs between Dallas and Fort Worth. We stopped in Grand Prairie to see the Chromosaurs at Ripley's Believe It or Not. It's not an easy place to get to, so we took photos from the side of Interstate-35. We should have exited north on North Belt Line Road, and then turned left/west on E. Palace Parkway.
The Chromosaurs are bright shiny dinosaur-like creatures. The three Chromosaurs were made by John (Jack) Kearney. They have lived at several locations, but they were ultimately bought by the Ripley's Believe It Or Not in Grand Prairie.
John Kearney is a Chicago- and Provincetown-based American artist famous for making figurative sculptures, often of animals, using multiple, found metal objects, specifically bumpers from automobiles.
Kearney's Chromosaurs are giant dinosaur models made entirely of chrome car bumpers. Kearney's Tyrannosaurus rex, triceratops and stegosaurus weigh a total of eight tons.
Kearney and three helpers built the dinosaurs between 1988 and 1991 for a Chicago businessman. Kearney's biggest challenge was the T. rex. At 18 feet, it is the tallest of the three. He built it in two pieces and in two states: the upper half in Massachusetts, the tail end in Illinois.
Kearney got hooked on recycling junk into art when he was a third-grader. He discovered the beauty of bumpers by accident. The Chicago artist was searching a junkyard for interesting stuff and came up with a bunch of old chrome bumpers. "I tossed them onto the grass, and they fell into the shape of a ballet dancer."
See Round America Grand Prairie Texas Sightseeing Photos
Copyright 2008, Round America and William M. Windsor
