CowParadeNC 'moo'ves to UNC campus -

The fiberglass cows will be auctioned in January to benefit the N.C. Children's Hospital

CawParade North Carolina 2012 has come to the Triangle this fall. The exhibit features more than 150 life-sized painted cows. The 3 month exhibit, presented by North Carolina's Children's Hospital, will be sold to benefit the Children's hospital. http://cowparadenc.com/about

CowParadeNC, an offshoot of the world’s largest public art exhibit, has put 81 plump sculptures out to pasture.

These original cow sculptures by regional artists have been spread around the Triangle and its surrounding areas. Of all of the locales, UNC has the highest concentration of the herd, with 15 placed sporadically across campus early this week.

CowParadeNC is an artistic charity event benefiting the N.C. Children’s Hospital.

Danielle Bates, director of communications at the hospital, said the original plan was to place the cows on Franklin Street.

“But worrying about pedestrian right-of-way and Halloween festivities deterred that,” she said.

Each fiberglass bovine weighs 125 pounds and is safely secured to a concrete stand weighing 400 pounds.

Bates said the herd will remain in its current location until at least Dec. 7, after which there will be a livestock auction on Jan. 26.

Hosting the CowParade North Carolina 2012 Gala Auction is Chapel Hill clothing designer Alexander Julian — owner of Julian’s on Franklin Street — and his wife, Meagan.

Bates said CowParadeNC aims to raise $300,000, the amount raised at CowParade in Madison, Wis. — a parade with similar demographics and herd size to CowParadeNC.

The Ackland Art Museum is hosting two grazers: How Now, a brown cow, and the octopus-clad St. Augustine Monster.

So far, How Now has been a success in front of the Ackland, said Emily Bowles, the Ackland’s director of communications.

“There are so many hidden animals in the design,” Bowles said. “The two cows we have are done by artists who really took their craft and style and applied it to the cow and used it as their canvas.”

Bowles said Emily Kass, the Ackland’s director, was instrumental in getting the museum involved in CowParadeNC.

“Our cows are very bright and visible, and they draw your attention upward.”

How Now’s creator, Burritt “Bucky” Benson, of Lumberton, said he wanted his cow to get people’s imagination going.

“This is the first time I’ve painted on a 3-D object,” Benson said. “When I started doing the legs, I realized what I got myself into.”
Benson said he loved the challenge of the project.

“I was just tickled to death to be chosen to work on the cow.”

Contact the desk editor at
arts@dailytarheel.com.

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