CowParade, a public art exhibition, will be moo-ving its way into San Diego in January 2009 after its debut took center stage at Liberty Station in Point Loma recently.
The exhibition will showcase 200 life-size fiberglass cows adorned by artists from San Diego and Tijuana and will be displayed around some of San Diego’s most high-profile public locations ” including Balboa Park, the San Diego County Administration Center and trolley stations ” for three months, concluding at the end of March.
“Bringing CowParade to San Diego is an opportunity to support the local arts community as well as local charities,” said Michael Kinsman, operational director of CowParade San Diego.
The unveiling of two of the life-size fiberglass cows, a preview of the CowParade San Diego artist’s lab and announcement of the local beneficiaries took place Tuesday, June 10 at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Beneficiaries, Mayor Jerry Sanders and members of the arts community attended the debut event.
CowParade San Diego intends to cast a variety of established and emerging artists ” from painters and sculptors to multimedia artists and craftsmen with levels of art ranging from serious to whimsical ” to participate in the exhibition. An open “call-to-artists” in the San Diego/Tijuana region began June 10.
Artists whose design is selected for the exhibition will be provided with a life-size, blank fiberglass cow form and $1,000 upon completion and approval of their transformed cow.
The artist lab at Liberty Station will be available to all artists selected to participate and will be open for the public to observe the works in progress.
“The arts community is very excited about this,” said Kinsman. “We are happy to be embraced by them.”
Schoolchildren have an opportunity to be involved in the exhibition as well. They will participate in a design competition with miniature versions of the life-sized cows, creating their own “minimoo” cows for a brief period of indoor public display. Details of the competition are still to be defined, according to Kinsman.
At the close of the exhibition will be an auction of the top 50 cows. The funds raised will benefit the Rady Children’s Hospital, the Zoological Society of San Diego, and the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership charities. It is estimated that the auction will generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for the non-profit organizations.
Since its start in Chicago in 1999, CowParade has advanced in size, creativity, and quality becoming the world’s largest public art event.
It has been held in more than 50 cities across six continents including New York, Paris, Stockholm and Barcelona.
The event has raised more than $25 million for charities internationally, according to its website.
For more information regarding sponsors, beneficiaries, artist submission process, sponsorship opportunities, education program and event specifics, visit www.cowparadesandiego.com.
