Bollweevil it or not, Enterprise gets giant insects as art

Published 2:30 pm Sunday, January 27, 2019

ENTERPRISE, Ala. (AP) — Giant replicas of boll weevils will soon invade a southeast Alabama town that celebrates the insect.

Colorfully decorated replicas of the bugs are part of a planned art exhibit in the southeast Alabama community of Enterprise, The Dothan Eagle reported.

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The project kicks off Thursday, when the first four boll weevils are to be unveiled. Those four replicas will represent the City of Enterprise, the Enterprise Police Department, the Enterprise Fire Department and the Enterprise Farmers Market.

“This public arts project is sure to be a whimsical and cheerful addition to our city landscape. It’s really going to be ‘unbollweevible!,'” Enterprise Tourism Director Tammy Doerer said in announcing the project.

The boll weevils will be custom-decorated similar to the “Dothan Peanuts Around Town” project in Dothan, and the “Pelicans in Paradise” in Pensacola, Florida.

The Enterprise replicas are being created by Replica Plastics of Dothan. They’re being painted by local artist Wes Hardin, who painted the “Story of the Boll Weevil” mural downtown, the Dothan newspaper reported.

The company has transformed the likeness of an unattractive bug into a colorful and interesting character that can be customized, Doerer said.

The project, which has been in development for more than a year, was first proposed by the Wiregrass Economic Development Corp. The Enterprise Chamber of Commerce and the City of Enterprise Tourism Department joined the effort with the aim of bringing attention to the city.

Future plans in Enterprise include a self-guided map tour of the Boll Weevil trail.

Enterprise is about 85 miles (137 kilometers) southeast of Montgomery.

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Information from: The Dothan Eagle, http://www.dothaneagle.com