Sidewalk Arts Project
Moose In The City/Toronto
Big Pig Gig/Cincinnati
Fabricator: The Glass Hand
Herd About Buffalo/Buffalo, NY
Cavalcade of Cod/Boston
Cavalcade of Cod/Boston
Art-O-Mobiles/Stamford, CT
Art-O-Mobiles/Stamford, CT
Art-O-Mobiles/Stamford, CT
A Brief History
It started several years ago in Zürich, Switzerland. Eight hundred fiberglass cows, decorated and painted by Swiss artists, were displayed throughout the city and then auctioned off to raise money for charity.
A year later, Chicago had its own "Cows on Parade"©, which raised 3.5 million dollars for charity and attracted over 2 million additional tourists and an estimated $500 million in additional tourist related revenue.
Over the past two years dozens of cities have done their own Sidewalk Arts Projects.
Check out some of these links:
New Orleans, LA: Festival of Fins
Chicago, IL: Cows on Parade
Cincinnati, OH: Big Pig Gig
Toronto, Canada: Moose in the City
Belfast, ME: Bearfest
How You Can Do It
Through your Cultural Affairs Office, you organize a committee to undertake this project. Their first step is to choose an object that is identified with your town and determine the desired size, variations (if any) and number required. They will also be responsible for locating the sponsors, artists and publicizing the event.
Each sculpture is sponsored (paid for) by a local business, community organization or individual. These sponsors are actually patrons in that they have paid for the object to be created but do not ultimately own it. Their sponsorship is fully tax-deductible and includes an honorarium for the artist.
Artists are solicited to submit designs for decorating the sculptures. From these designs, the committee creates a portfolio that is made available to the sponsors. They can pick a design from that portfolio or commission an artist of their own choosing.
The finished sculptures are displayed throughout your town, in indoor and outdoor spaces.
These sculptures are ultimately auctioned off, raising money for the charity(ies) of your choice.
How We Can Help
Foam Props sculpted and fabricated the 100 standing and seated fiberglass codfish for Boston's Cavalcade of Cod and 70 7' cars for Stamford, Connecticut's Art-O-Mobiles, Art In Public Places.
Call or e-mail us about the design and fabrication of an object for your own Sidewalk Arts Project. We'll be glad to answer any of your questions and walk you through the details of how we can help you produce this kind of event.
You can e-mail us at foamprop@verizon.net or call us at 781-569-2293.