Cowparade

I had an udderly great time this weekend in Durham, NC. The cow parade stampeded into town this past Saturday. CowParade North Carolina is a large-scale public art fundraiser benefiting North Carolina Children’s Hospital at UNC. The CowParade concept began in 1998 in Switzerland and really took off the following year when more than 300 cows lined Chicago’s “Miracle Mile” and raised upward of $3.5 million for charity. Some 75 cities in 30 countries have held CowParades since then, and tens of millions of dollars have been raised for nonprofit partners. This year the city I call home participated with over 80 cows painted by local artists.

Check out these awesome photos! It always amazes me how creative people can be. Each of these artists started with the same blank “canvas” –a life size fiberglass cow and yet no two cows were alike in any way. My favorites were the Maasai Warrior cow and the Krispy Kreme donut cow. I may be a little biased on the donut one. It was created by a former very talented student of mine.

So moooove over Macy’s day parade, because this Cow parade was a wonderful family event that hopefully exposed many people to the importance of public art.

Public art serves two primary functions: It provides a tool for economic revitalization and creates community identity. It helps shape the quality of life for people in a community by offering a form of expression that embodies a community’s spirit. It represents a sense of community pride and brings people together.

I highly recommend exposing your children to events like this. The more children are exposed to contemporary art the more likely they will gain a lifelong appreciation of art. So seek out events like this in your community. It’s a great way to spend a day with the family! You and your family should milk these kind of events for all they’re worth.