Burnside Building, Worcester, MA

The Visage of a Monstrous Green Man (a Face Consisting of or Surrounded by Foliage) Juts Out From the Facade of the Burnside Building Located on Main Street in Worcester, MA (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on April 4, 2018)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Gymnasium, Worcester, MA

Just One of the Thirty-Four Limestone Grotesques to Be Salvaged From the Old Worcester Polytechnic Institute Gymnasium Before the Hundred-Year-Old Building Is Demolished Later This Year (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on April 21, 2016)

Boston Opera House, Boston, MA

Just One of a Multitude of Faces (Is It My Imagination, or Does She Actually Look a Lot Like a Muppet?) That Can Be Found on the Fabulously Elaborate Facade of the Boston Opera House Located on Washington Street in Boston, MA (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on May 26, 2017)

Burrage House, Boston, MA

A Cat-Like Gargoyle With Wings Holding a Shield Seen on the Exterior of the Burrage House on the Corner of Hereford Street and Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, MA (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on July 1, 2019)

Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA

A Strange Scaly Rat-Like Creature Spotted Crawling on the Original Stone Facade of the Main Branch of the Cambridge Public Library in Cambridge, MA (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on June 9, 2017)

Burrage House, Boston, MA

One of the Many Gargoyles and Grotesques That Decorate the Exterior of the Burrage House in Boston Opens His Mouth Wide to Expose Four Fangs and a Tongue (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on September 26, 2018)

Old Exhibition Hall, Worcester, MA*

A Grimacing Gargoyle Grips a Surprisingly Still Functional Double Van Der Graaf Generator Above the Entrance of the Old Exhibition Hall on Agricultural Street Built for the Failed Worcester International Electro-Technical Exhibition of 1891*

*HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!!!

As you probably suspected, the photograph is an April Fools Day hoax, and the gargoyle, Exhibition Hall, and the Worcester International Electro-Technical Exhibition of 1891 exists, for the most part, only in my imagination. The gargoyle in the photograph is, in reality, the weightlifting grotesque from the old C Auditorium, with a grimacing gargoyle head I sculpted from Plasticine, pasted on in Photoshop, while his dumb bells masquerade as the supposed double Van der Graaf generator (with the help of a pair of superimposed starburst lens flares). You may be surprised to learn that the International Electro-Technical Exhibition of 1891 was an actual event. However, it was held in Frankfurt, Germany, not Worcester, Massachusetts. Although you will not find Agricultural Street on any present day map of Worcester, that was the original name of Russell Street, the current day location of the campus of Becker CollegeWorcester Agricultural Fairgrounds, as well as once the home of the long gone Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds, the site of the first perfect game ever pitched in Major League baseball. You might think the last fact is also an April Fools Day prank, but believe it or not, it’s true and you can look it up (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on April 1, 2015).

Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA

A Kneeling Figure Dressed in the Garb of a Medieval Minstrel and Reading a Scroll Carved in Stone on the Exterior of the Original Cambridge Public Library Located on Broadway in Cambridge, MA (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on February 27, 2019)

Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA

A Stone Carving Of a Monk Studying a Sacred Scroll Seen on the Original Cambridge Public Library on Broadway in Cambridge, MA (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on January 11, 2018)

Park Avenue, Worcester, MA

A Long-Necked Gargoyle (One of Eight That Went Missing From the Former Chestnut Street Congregational Church Almost a Decade Ago But Were Recently Returned to Worcester) Protrudes from the Back of the Preservation Worcester Float in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Along Park Avenue Last Sunday (Originally Published on Gargoyles and Grotesques on March 17, 2017)