Photos and Biography provided by Chris Larson
Don Larson was a commercial artist in Erie in the 1960s and 70s. He attended college at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. Larson did a lot of work for the Erie Zoo. He created the mosaics that decorated the entrance to the zoo, and the original artwork for the zoo’s train tunnel.
Contributing artwork to the zoo’s aesthetic design was not Larson’s only accomplishment. He did the artwork for the Erie Sesquicentennial Commemorative plate in 1962, and a similar commemorative plate for the Erie Winter Carnival. He also did the original artwork for Troyer Farms Potato Chips, depicting the farmer holding a bushel of potatoes and the barn with a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign in the background. He did numerous signs, catalogs, and brochures for numerous companies and organizations in the northwest Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio areas.
Larson also did a lot of work for WICU in the 1960s, which included artwork for the Pappy Show.
In the early to mid-60s Larson was commissioned by the zoo to the create the mosaics. The glass mosaic tiles, used in Larson’s design, was obtain from a company in Italy. According to postcards promoting the zoo at the time, published by A-K-D Printing Company, the mosaics were constructed with 17,000 glass tiles and represent 1,200 man-hours of work. The mosaics were created in Larson’s art studio (Don Larson Art Studios) on West 13th Street, across from Griswold Park. Don Larson’s name can be seen at the bottom of one of the mosaics (below the seal and to the left of the tortoise) on the right side column of the zoo’s entrance.
Don Larson died at age 51 in 1979.
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| Don Larson’s studio (Don Larson Art Studios) on West 13th Street, across from Griswold Park. Mr. Larson, at the head of the table, smoking a pipe, is overseeing the work being done on his creation. |
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| Mr. Larson inspecting the installation of his creation at the zoo's entrance. |
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| Larson's mosaics at the zoo's entrance. |
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| Larson's mosaics at the zoo's entrance. |
