Art brings together 'Cowmunity' By Hillary Preece Little kids can play all they want around the cows at Liberty Station without worrying about stepping in cow patties. CowParade is the largest worldwide public art event featuring life-sized fiberglass cows, and it culminates with a July 11 auction in La Jolla to benefit local organizations. Cow lovers can take home one of 39 painted heifers, with proceeds benefiting the Zoological Society of San Diego and Rady Children's Hospital San Diego. Why cows? They are "universally beloved animals…that make everyone smile," according to CowParade's Web site. The exhibit known as CowParade roams. Before grazing the courtyard of Liberty Station in Point Loma, the cows were on display for four months in La Jolla near restaurants, shops and museums. The traveling exhibit is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the non-profit organizations. Previous cities that hosted CowParade have raised nearly $20 million worldwide. One happy cow has already been put to work: "Cowmunity." "I happened to be walking past all sorts of cows where I like this one, I like that one, but then I saw her and I loved her," said Peggy Chodorow, a La Jolla Realtor and proud new mother of "Cowmunity." Chodorow said "Cowmunity" is extraordinary and fanciful because of her intricate multicolored design. Chodorow was so attracted to this heifer that she bought her a month before the auction and placed her by her front door. "We have this fantasy that the UPS guy will come to the door and see it and faint," she said. "Cowmunity" is the work of local artist Sean Brannan, who named her to represent the theme of community in his paintings. "Cowmunity" has black swirls all over her body. "She started off as a single line drawing. The end of the line connects with the beginning of the line. So in essence each part of the design is connected," Brannan said in an e-mail. Each cow started as 525 pounds of fiberglass. These blank canvases were then open to interpretation by local artists. Only 40 were chosen and the herd was born. Michael Kinsman, CowParade La Jolla director, said he worked hard to find the cows a happy home while they were in La Jolla. "I really looked at the cows and the artwork and available setting to find spots that made sense," he said. Some cows grazed the sidewalks, others greeted the public in front of restaurants, and two even made it onto store balconies. Some cows were injured, vandalized and even stolen while on display, while others received minor hairline fractures, Kinsman said. Damaged cows are immediately mended by staff from the organization's "Cow Hospital." The remaining 39 cows (minus "Cowmunity") are putting their best hoof forward, hoping to be adopted at the July 11 auction at Robert Paine Scripps Forum at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 8610 Kennel Way. Until then, the cows are on display at Liberty Station in Point Loma. Cathy Coleman's children loved the cows. Coleman worked hard to make sure Madeline, 5, and Mason, 6, didn't break the "petting but no climbing" rule as they admired the cows in Point Loma. "They are very unique and fun," she said. • • • Vox is the newspaper of the 2009 CCNMA-San Diego Multicultural Journalism Workshop. Return to index | See also: Vox on Blogspot