The first thing I saw on a recent visit to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis was this:

Seeing this reminded me of this:

I am in favor of both of these for multiple reasons:

-They are whimsical. This is public art but somewhat absurd and fun art. They liven up existing spaces. Both of the buildings above are glass, modernist structures and the animals are a good complement for the style.

-They are unusual. How often does a giant animal appear in these situations? They catch your attention, both outside and inside.

-They are memorable. Museums and convention centers have a certain feel about them. These creatures are a memory in themselves, helping the building and setting to stand out. (They were not created for this reason but these are certainly selfie and social media opportunities.)

All that said, if animals like these were everywhere, they would not be as worthwhile. Take the painted cows campaign in Chicago years ago: it works well once or twice but when lots of communities try it with lots of animals, it becomes less memorable.