More city dwellers have herd of art

Decades ago, "city art" meant bronze statues of war heroes. Today, a cavalcade of mural-painted fiberglass bovines dot modern metropolises doubling as photo props for out-of-town guests and ushering "herds" of city folk from one attraction to the next.

Cows, long used to advertise ice cream parlors, dairies, and Chick-fil-A, have become a cosmopolitan icon, replacing the war memorial as the quintessential city-art sculpture and raising some serious dollars for local charities.

When Chicago let cow sculptures – about 300 of them – "roam" its streets in 1999, city officials estimate it got a $200 million boost in tourism revenue. It also raised about $3.5 million for charity when, at the end of the public exhibit, the statues were sold at auction.

In 2000, New York City let cows "graze" on sidewalks and in parks, raising about $1.5 million for charity.

Dozens of cities around the world have embraced "art cows" since Zurich, Switzerland, held the very first cattle-grazing event in 1998. Art cows have been spun off to include other animals, such as pigs in Cincinnati and Peoria, Ill., moose in Toronto, bears in Belfast, Maine, and buffaloes in – where else? – Buffalo, N.Y.

Event organizers say the decorated animals spark civic spirit and showcase the talent of local artists, many of whom are commissioned to transform the white, life-size animal molds into street art for about $1,000 each.

"There's a great deal of civic pride when you can host a cow parade," says Patrick Geoghegan of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, which is sponsoring a summer-long painted-cow exhibition in Madison, Wis., through Oct. 13. "We expect a million sets of eyes, and many will come from out of town," he says. That promises to provide a healthy spike in tourism dollars spent in and around the city of about 205,000 people.

In Madison and elsewhere, businesses, community groups, or individuals can sponsor a cow for about $5,000. The fee covers the cost of the blank fiberglass bovine, paint, other materials, and the $1,000 artist's fee. In return, the sponsor gets to place a plaque, bearing its name, on the base of the animal. Event organizers take a small cut of the sponsor fee, while the money raised in the "bovine auction" all goes to charity.

While it's difficult to gauge how much economic impact the cows and other painted animals have on a city, charities like New England's Jimmy Fund, which is sponsoring a summer-long cow exhibition in Boston, say it's a significant fundraiser.

"This is a major program for us for this year," says David Giagrando, director of cause marketing for the Jimmy Fund, which raises about $180 million annually for medical research. "We hope to raise about $700,000 from this event when the cows are auctioned off."

Buyers of the cows are wide-ranging, says Ron Fox, vice president of CowParade Holdings, a for-profit organization that helps cities put on art-cow events. "Most go for about $7,500 to $10,000," he says of the sculptures.

But in 2003, one called "Waga-Moo-Moo" and covered in Waterford crystal, was sold for about $146,000 to a restaurateur in Dublin, Ireland. It's the highest price paid for a painted cow. While "Waga-Moo-Moo" plays hostess at a restaurant, other cows bought at auction wind up in hospitals, schools, corporate lobbies – and in people's living rooms and gardens.

Why cows? It's a universally loved animal, Mr. Fox says, "and the shape of a cow is a great canvas for artists."

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