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For the turtle that's got it all - brains and brawn - look outside the Center
for Young Children at the University of Maryland.
The
"Ninja Terrapin" was created by David Brosch, 58, to highlight the athletic and academic traditions at the
university, where his two children attended college.
"One of the [Ninja] turtles was Michelangelo" -- a
Renaissance man, Brosch says. "So this is a Renaissance turtle."
It holds a book and a lacrosse stick.
"Michelangelo was a great artist, but he also wrote a book of poems, so that's
what this book represents," says Brosch, who lives in neighboring
University Park.
Brosch is a chief inspector for Baltimore's Department of Housing and
Community Development. Like
many of the other turtle painters, he is a part-time artist.
He says he got inspired to do public art after seeing Chicago's 1999
Cows on Parade public project.
He's done other public art projects, including a Baltimore "Fish Out
of Water" sculpture in 2001.
He even convinced his daughter, Jessica, to paint
the Old-Bay-themed "Crab Feast" turtle, located at the Silver Spring
Washington Sports Club.
"It's always fun when you can do it with your children, too," he says. | 
