Pelicans in Paradise

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"Press"ton Pelican in front of the Pensacola News Journal building on Romana Street

Pelicans in Paradise is a public art project organized by the Pensacola News Journal in which pelican statues of reinforced fiberglass are decorated by various artists, selected by the statues' sponsors, and placed at various outdoor locations around the downtown Pensacola area.

Pelicans in Paradise was inspired by the similar CowParade project, which Pensacola News Journal president & publisher Denise Ivey witnessed during a 2002 trip to Portland, Oregon. Each fiberglass pelican is nearly 5 feet tall and weighs about 70 pounds; each pelican sits on a 48 inch by 40 inch, 450-pound cement "perch."

A total of 41 pelicans have been commissioned for the project: the initial project included twenty-one pelicans launched between June 23-July 2, 2004, followed by a "Second Flight" between November 15-19, and five more in Spring 2005. One remains unfinished. On May 9, 2005, the pelicans began to be removed, cleaned and returned to their owners/sponsors. Many have remained in the same place.

All pelican designs have been reproduced in the form of scale replicas, which are available for purchase from the Pensacola News Journal. Other Pelicans in Paradise products include T-shirts, posters and magnets. All proceeds from sponsorship and merchandise go to benefit the News Journal's Newspapers in Education literacy program.

Gallery of Pelicans[edit]

Pelican locations[edit]

Initially located in close proximity to each other in the downtown area, the Pelican statues were returned to the original sponsors or sold to the highest bidder after the program's end in 2005. Sadly, some were vandalized or stolen and will never be relocated. The map below is imported from a Google Maps project by User:RenegadeSith.

Map incomplete. Any user who is interested in contributing to this map is strongly urged to contact the map author.

<googlemap version="0.9" lat="30.420848" lon="-87.237625" zoom="11" height="500" width="100%"> http://www.pensapedia.com/mediawiki/files/pelicans.kml </googlemap>

Original Pelican Locations (map inaccurate)[edit]

Finding the pelicans became a popular scavenger hunt during the program's run. Incomplete map below. See also: Pelican Map and PDF <googlemap lat="30.412928" lon="-87.215223" type="map" zoom="16" width="650">

30.411728, -87.21252,

PelicanFiveFlags.jpg
Five Flags
101 E Romana St

30.41167, -87.212978,

PelicanPresston.jpg
"Press"ton
101 E Romana Street

30.411605, -87.213426,

PelicanPegLegPete.jpg
Peg Leg Pete
101 E Romana Street

30.411529, -87.213829,

PelicanSpiritCatcher.jpg
Spirit Catcher
101 E Romana Street

30.413139, -87.214172,

PelicanBuck.jpg
Buck
101 E Romana Street

30.412986, -87.215167,

PelicanPcolaParadise.jpg
Pensacola is a Paradise
Intersection of Garden and Palafox (east)

30.412887, -87.215738,

PelicanBlueAngels1.jpg
Blue Angels 1
Intersection of Garden and Palafox (west)

30.412614, -87.215116,

PelicanPatrioticPappy.jpg
Patriotic Pappy
Palafox south of Garden

30.411911, -87.214987,

PelicanBlues.jpg
Pelican Blues
40 S Palafox Street

30.410578, -87.21473,

PelicanPatriot.jpg
Patriot
100 block S Palafox Street

30.409116, -87.214344,

PelicanPcolaParadise.jpg
Pelican Brief(s)
Northwest corner of Plaza Ferdinand VII

30.408487, -87.214172,

PelicanGodfeather.jpg
The Godfeather
Southwest corner of Plaza Ferdinand VII

30.409209, -87.213786,

PelicanSegradoPelicano.jpg
Segrado Pelicano
Northeast corner of Plaza Ferdinand VII

30.409431, -87.214837,

PelicanAzalican.jpg
Azalican
Old County Courthouse, intersection of Government and Palafox

30.415112, -87.219021,

PelicanDewey.jpg
Dewey D. Pelican
Downtown Library, intersection of Wright and Spring

30.412207, -87.215416,

PelicanEmeraldCoast.jpg
Emerald Coast
Palafox south of Garden

30.416315, -87.216275,

PelicanElizabeakI.jpg
Peli-Queen Elizabeak I
N Palafox Street median (westside)

30.416352, -87.216082,

PelicanElPelicano.jpg
El Perdido Pelicano
N Palafox Street median (eastside)

30.415649, -87.215974,

PelicanPerdiPelican.jpg
Perdi Pelican
N Palafox Street median (eastside)

30.41563, -87.216125,

PelicanSmilinPsychedelican.jpg
Smilin' Psychedelican
N Palafox Street median (westside)

</googlemap>

External Links[edit]