National Jelly Bean Day April 22: Watch Live Jelly Belly Panda Art Cam

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Apr 10, 2014, 08:00 ET

FAIRFIELD, Calif., April 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Break out the beans! Jelly Belly artist-in-residence, Kristen Cumings, will create a portrait of a Giant Panda in honor of National Jelly Bean Day and Earth Day at the Jelly Belly Visitor Center in California. Cumings will work on the portrait and sign autographs with visitors on Tuesday, April 22^nd from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Jelly Belly Artist, Kristen Cumings working on the Swift Foxes, the latest addition to the Endangered Species Series. (PRNewsFoto/Jelly Belly Candy Company) (PRNewsFoto/JELLY BELLY CANDY COMPANY)

Hawksbill Sea Turtle made of 11,000 jelly beans is in the private collection of Jelly Belly Candy Company. (PRNewsFoto/Jelly Belly Candy Company) (PRNewsFoto/JELLY BELLY CANDY COMPANY)

Jelly Belly Visitor Center in California prepares for National Jelly Bean Day. (PRNewsFoto/Jelly Belly Candy Company) (PRNewsFoto/JELLY BELLY CANDY COMPANY)

Fans who can't make it to the visitor center can join the celebration via Livestream. Watch the Giant Panda Portrait be made live by clicking the Livestream event through a "Panda Art Cam" link on JellyBelly.com and on Facebook.

Other National Jelly Bean Day festivities include the "Jelly Bean Challenge." Where visitors to the factory will get the chance to challenge the Guinness World Record for sorting a mix of 30 jelly beans into five cups using a straw or chopsticks. The current world record for sorting jelly beans with chopsticks is 21.53 seconds.

The Giant Panda joins the Endangered Species Series, a new Jelly Belly Art series dedicated to immortalizing the colorful and rare animals of the earth in vibrant Jelly Belly jelly beans. Inspired by the endangered species of land, sea and air, the series is a great way to spark interest in kids and adults about animal conservation and awareness. Jelly Belly plans to tour the collection across North America for display at museums, zoos and animal conservation programs.

Current Jelly Belly Art in the series are the Great Green Macaws, a Hawksbill Sea Turtle, a Rockhopper Penguin, the Swift Foxes, and a Grizzly Bear.

Cumings uses a mosaic technique to create the jelly bean portraits for this new series. Each work can use upwards of 10,000-14,000 Jelly Belly beans. Individual beans are placed by hand and applied to the large canvas.

In 2010 the Guinness World Record was set in Shanghai for the largest candy art. The 39-foot-long art piece is made of 629,000 Jelly Belly beans and was on display at the 2010 Shanghai Expo. The concept of Jelly Belly Art was created in 1982 when San Francisco artist Peter Rocha created a portrait of President Ronald Reagan – a famous fan of Jelly Bellyjelly beans.