By Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
June 10, 2015

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Recently, the Kansas City Police Department discovered several Caimans in a backyard of an Eastside home.

Not to be outdone, a 33-foot-long crocidile was spotted along the Missouri River this past week. Luckily, however, this one was made of clay.

Benjamin, a Northeast resident, frequently visits the riverfront. About a week ago, he noticed May’s downpour created a clay-like mud on the banks of the riverfront. After talking with people in the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, he learned they just scrape the mud off of the pavement.

“I saw it as an art medium and didn’t want to see it go to waste,” Benjamin said.

So, the wheels started turning. An art major in college, Benjamin began thinking of what he could make with the mud. Any kind of land-based animal was out of the question. He had to keep the mud on the ground.

“Imagine building a giraffe,” Benjamin said. “The crocidile was the best I could come up with.”

An outdoors guy who grew up in the “back hills of Tennessee,” Benjamin said riverfront visitors have been enthralled by his creation. He noted that one family was so amused, they built a separate piece of art with Benjamin.

“They were excited,” Benjamin said. “A whole lot of people like to watch me work.”

Even the weather can’t stop him. Although Kansas City has seen its fair share of rain over the last week, Benjamin said the water hasn’t destroyed what he’s been working on for nearly two weeks, children have.

“It was a little annoying because kids were playing with it while the mud was soft, but I love to see kids creating art,” Benjamin said, adding he’d love to see schools or summer camps bring children to the riverfront to create art with the mud.

The only obstacle he came across was the eyes. He imagined bright yellow eyes to contrast the grey mud he was using. His plan was to purchase yellow light reflectors and use those. But, he couldn’t find them. One day, at an area hardware store, he was explaining his problem to the manager and she suggested colored duct tape.

“It turned out better than expected,” Benjamin said, noting he cut styrofoam into circles and placed the duct tape on top, while drawing a black line down the middle.

With over two weeks of work put into the crocodile, Benjamin said he wasn’t sure if he would create any friends for it.

“I’ll keep building, but it might be hard to come up with more animals,” Benjamin said.