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Frank Zappa Bust

Baltimore, Maryland

The likeness of the Baltimore music icon was unveiled in time for the anniversary of his Senate hearings on music censorship. 

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The bust at Christmastime RobG217 (Atlas Obscura User)
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Unveiled in September 2010, in time for the 25th anniversary of his Senate hearings on music censorship and celebrated with a Baltimore mayor-declared Frank Zappa Day and a free street concert by Dweezil Zappa and the Zappa Plays Zappa band, this bust of Frank Zappa is a tribute to the rocker, classical composer, film producer, and all-around avant-garde Baltimore icon who passed away in 1993.

Sitting in front of the latest addition to Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library, the bust is a replica of a similar sculpture in Vilnius, Lithuania, by Konstantinas Bogdanas. The duplicate was donated to Baltimore by the Lithuanian non-profit and Zappa-fan organization ZAPPART.

A few years after the original memorial was erected, the popularity of Frank Zappa in Lithuania had grown and ZAPPART decided to give a bust to Zappa’s hometown of Baltimore. During the Christmas season, the bust is adorned with a Santa hat. The street near the library has also been (unofficially) renamed Frank Zappa Way. 

Know Before You Go

Street parking is ample, but do not idle too long in front of the library to avoid a ticket.

music statues
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