Whimsical art scales heights

Sculptures: The `Fish Out of Water' project has prompted area artists to create fanciful, 6-foot-long fiberglass fish for public exhibition in the summer and fall.

Fabulous fish came flying through the doors of a midtown warehouse yesterday.

Spangled fish, singing fish and fish bedecked in stars. A Formstone fish, a feathered fish and fat Elvis with a finful of peanut butter and banana sandwich.

"That was his favorite [food]. You wouldn't want the King to go hungry, would you, hon?" said artist Barbara Cox, the creator of Elfish.

This Elfish has an outrageous entourage of about a dozen flamboyant fish sculptures. They are new entries in Baltimore's latest extravaganza of whimsy, the "Fish Out of Water" project, which has commissioned area artists to decorate 130 6-foot-long fiberglass fish for public exhibition during the summer and fall.

Not since Super Bowl mania painted the town purple and black has Baltimore displayed its goofy streak on such a grand scale. Fish sculptures have been popping up at the Inner Harbor and elsewhere for two weeks.

"People are walking around with big smiles on their faces. They love finding fish in unexpected places," said Leslie Landsman, the project's director, as the latest batch of sculptures was unloaded at Maryland Institute, College of Art.

The fish project puts Baltimore in the middle of a nationwide craze, animal art on city sidewalks. First was Chicago's "Cows on Parade" in 1999, a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the city's stockyard tradition that resulted in an estimated $200 million in tourist spending and raised $3.5 million at a charity auction of art on the hoof.

Cincinnati had pigs, Miami had flamingos, and Lexington, Ky., had horses. Sober-sided critics said the best thing about the trend was that the exhibits didn't stay up for long.

Most artists working on the Baltimore project say such works aren't intended to make a serious statement.

"I thought I would mix in a little humor," said Baltimore artist Laurence Hurst, the creator of Catfish, a Caribbean-hued tabby cat with mesmerizing golden eyes. "I was thinking about fat fish and cool cats. You know, Baltimore is a cool cat kind of a town."

Lisa Manheim contributed Starfish, a midnight-blue fish painted with a map of favorite constellations.

"I have no idea whether it's astronomically or astrologically correct," said her husband, Paul Swan, who drove 150 miles from their Doylestown, Pa., home to deliver the finished work.

Catonsville artist Jim Opasik created Spoon-a, its silvery sides covered in scales made from the handles and backs of big kitchen spoons, with dioramas of the Inner Harbor inside its bulging glass eyes.

His wife, Mary Deacon Opasik, dreamed up Sea-D, its fins shimmering with hundreds of pieces of smashed compact discs.

Baltimore artist and instrument maker Denham Ikemefuna Fassett drew a small crowd with his entry, called Playing Fish Scales. On each of the sculpture's yellow-and-black spots was a small African finger piano, the instrument known by a variety of melodious names including sansa and kalimba.

Fassett unloaded his large sculpture from his small Toyota and immediately began jamming, coaxing a stream of rippling notes from his fish. "It really resonates," he said.

Fellow artists' camera shutters clicked when Silver Spring sculptor Kristine Aono arrived with Formstone Roehouse.

Modeled on a street of East Baltimore rowhouses, the fish is sided with genuine and imitation Formstone and features a red lawn chair beside a set of white steps.

"It just seems to invoke the flavor of Baltimore," Aono said.

The sculptures earned each artist a $1,000 honorarium.

The most recent arrivals will be installed this week and next, most of them in the Inner Harbor, Fells Point and Canton, Landsman said.

The sculptures will be on display through October. They will be auctioned off for charity Nov. 17.

"Fish Out of Water" is intended to raise money for an initiative to upgrade public school classrooms' wiring to allow computer installation; a drive to buy art equipment and supplies for city schools; and a public art fund administered by City Hall.

Landsman plans to publish a map showing where the sculptures are.

Artist Cox warned art lovers to drive safely, especially in the vicinity of Elfish.

"I guess it could actually cause accidents," she said. "Seriously, I'm a little concerned."