Friday, June 3, 2011

Welcome to Wisconsin. There's a cow on the balcony.

When my mom and I went apartment hunting in downtown Madison, I was quite amused to find this life-sized painted cow on a downtown balcony for no apparent reason other than kitsch:

3 comments:

  1. Actually, this fella's a cow from an event a few years ago: Cow Parade. There were quite a few painted cows all over the city, and you can still find a few in front of business and, apparently, on balconies :)

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  2. Cow Parade?!?!?!? I really hope there's another one of these because it sounds like a great blog topic.

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  3. Yes, this was a fundraising event. See the link below for pictures of the cow sculptures. A similar charitable event involving lighthouse sculptures was held in Door County, WI. I also know of charity events based on decorated (but no longer functional) violins, and furniture such as chairs. In my opinion, the novelty of Cows on Parade originates from the 'public art' element. The cows were on public display prior to sale, and many continue to be displayed publicly by the current owners.

    http://wisconsin.cowparade.com/cow/gallery

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