In Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Belle pines for wanting more than a provincial life and despite her happily-ever-after, what more could she have imagined? What about her own likeness molded out of a perennial Easter favorite, PEEPS.
To mark its 10th anniversary, the Maryland Carroll County Arts Council is once again sponsoring a contest. A PEEPShow contest, to be exact, where lovers of the yellow, pink, blue and green marshmallow chicks and bunnies were challenged to create an exclusive artwork and “culinary cabaret.” Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes!
Baker Candice Birger of Westminster Cake Studio used around 1,500 Peeps to create Belle, who stands five-feet tall and is a near perfect replica of the princess complete in her yellow ballroom gown as she prepares to dance with the Beast. Birger’s official entry “Beauty and the PEEP” is among dozens of PEEPS artwork vying for bragging rights at the competition.
The star of animation, stage and screen is up against some sticky competitors like Mr. PEEP-tato, Mother of PEEP Dragon, Edgar Alan PEEP, PEEP-A-Chu, and the 10th Anniversary PEEP Mobile just to name a few of the entries.
There is another Disney com-PEEP-itor. It comes from Gia Bongiovani. Her sculpture entitled “Jafar PEEP” is designed after the villain Jafar and the Genie’s magic lamp complete with smoke from Disney’s Aladdin.
The larger than life Belle is not the first Disney character to be sculpted out of PEEPS. Last year, candy-maker Just Born, Inc. partnered with Lehigh Valley Airport in upstate Pennsylvania to display an eight-foot Goofy statue made up of 3,723 PEEPS at one of its departure gates to Orlando and the most magical place on Earth. The display took the grand prize in last year’s PEEPShow. Matt Pye, Vice President for Corporate Affairs at Just Born Quality Confections said the company was “happy to share the life-sized Goofy sculpture with families traveling to and from Lehigh Valley International Airport,” hoping that it would bring smiles to their faces.
So if Goofy is any indication, perhaps Belle will grace the airport terminal this year once the competition is over in Maryland.
All 150 entries are on display at the Carroll Arts Center in downtown Westminster Maryland but can also be viewed online at gogophotocontest.com/peepshow2017 where the public can vote for their favorite PEEPS artwork through April 19th. Each vote costs a dollar and all donations will support the mission of the Carroll County Arts Council.
And so after Easter, when the baskets are put away and the last jelly bean has been eaten, if there are any leftover PEEPS you may want to try your hand at sculpting some Disney artwork featuring those yellow, pink, purple, and green marshmallow chicks, bunnies and eggs. Who knows you may win first prize at the next PEEPShow competition.