Giant License Plate Spider (Morgan Pest Control)

A pest-control office in St. George, Utah, took in a 17-foot spider sculpture in 2019, and it began as controversial public art. Artist Deveren Farley built "Giant Spider" for the city's Art Around the Corner outdoor sculpture exhibit, and it went up in 2018 on the Main Street traffic circle. Farley told The Spectrum the idea came from the way visitors to his craft-show booth reacted to his smaller spiders; he wondered whether people would be scared by a giant one. According to the same report, the sculpture stands 17 feet tall with a circumference of about 22 feet. The head and body are hollow galvanized steel and Utah license plates, each leg weighs about 220 pounds, and the total is roughly a ton. A stop sign under the belly stands in for the black widow's marking. The Associated Press reported that Farley bought the plates from the Salt Lake City evidence department. The spider drew strong reactions. The Associated Press reported that some residents complained it was too scary for public display while local businesses competed to buy it. After the exhibit ended in April 2019, Morgan Termite and Pest Control bought it, and Farley planned a second, similar-sized spider for a mini-golf course at the Fiesta Fun Center. The company says it set the sculpture up under its sign on May 8, 2019, and that local residents voted on the name Dixie Long Legs. A February 2024 KSL feature still listed the spider at the Hilton Drive office. In May 2019 it was set up in front of the working business, where passers-by could see it from the street.