CowParade
CowParade turned a familiar animal form into a format for large-scale public art installations. Its early projects placed painted sculptures in city settings, where people could encounter them during everyday journeys rather than only in galleries. The timeline began in Zurich and moved to Chicago the following year, establishing a model for outdoor displays linked to charitable fundraising. The practical details of those first events help explain both the project’s scale and the cow’s suitability as a sculptural canvas.
The first cows in Zurich and Chicago
CowParade began in Zurich in 1998, then reached Chicago in 1999 in a much larger public display. CowParade’s published history, consulted in 2025, dates the first event to Zurich; Chicago’s 1999 event was promoted locally as Cows on Parade.
- Zurich’s 1998 event established the format: artists decorated cow sculptures and displayed them in public places, giving the city a temporary open-air exhibition.
- Chicago organiser Peter Hanig brought the idea to the city after encountering the Zurich project; CowParade’s published history records his role (consulted 2025).
- Chicago displayed about 300 cows in 1999, according to contemporary Chicago Tribune reporting from that year, making the citywide project notably ambitious.
- The Chicago sculptures were fibreglass and weighed around 580 pounds apiece, figures reported in Chicago Tribune coverage in 1999.
- After the display, the sculptures were auctioned for charity; contemporary Chicago Tribune reporting in 1999 put the proceeds at roughly US$3 million.
Chicago’s event demonstrated how a temporary exhibition could combine public visibility with a fundraising outcome. The Zurich-to-Chicago sequence also shows the format moving quickly from its first city presentation to a larger urban project.
The cow as a blank canvas
A cow sculpture offered a simple, recognisable outline that could carry very different visual treatments without losing its identity. Its broad flanks gave painters room for large motifs, while the head, legs and horns provided distinct surfaces that remained legible from different viewpoints. Because a freestanding animal can be approached from every side, a painted cow works as a 360-degree display rather than a flat image. Visitors can walk around it and see how a design changes across the body; this made each sculpture suitable for streets, squares and other open-air settings. The Chicago examples were reported at about 580 pounds each, with full-size forms roughly eight feet long and five feet high (Chicago Tribune, 1999). That substantial scale helped them register in busy public spaces, while fibreglass allowed a moulded, repeatable form to receive individual painted finishes. Repeated forms also simplified production: a common sculpture shape could be prepared in quantity, then decorated separately, instead of building every artwork from scratch. Their weight and full-size dimensions called for planned transport and stable display locations, while the consistent form made placement easier to organise across a city. For sculpture trail events, a durable, recognisable object that can be viewed from all sides makes a more practical display unit than a fragile or flat installation.
Wild in Art
Wild in Art develops public art projects that bring sculpted figures into streets, parks and other shared spaces. Its trail format has been adapted for city programmes, cultural events and charitable fundraising. The progression from the London CowParade project to Liverpool’s Superlambananas and Bristol’s Gromit trails shows how the approach can evolve to suit different places and purposes. These projects combine an outdoor art experience with a planned route and, in some cases, a fundraising auction.
From CowParade to Superlambananas
Wild in Art’s roots lie in producing public art events. In 2001, co-founder Charlie Langhorne took over the London CowParade project, gaining experience in coordinating a large-scale sculpture event with artists, sponsors and city partners (Wild in Art, 2001). The work involved more than placing objects in public: the project needed a recognisable format that could be adapted for different locations and supported by a network of local organisations. That event-production experience helped shape the city-scale trails Wild in Art went on to develop.
A later step came in Liverpool, where Go Superlambananas formed part of the city’s European Capital of Culture programme in 2008 (Liverpool Culture Company, 2008). The project brought decorated Superlambanana sculptures into the city’s public spaces, giving the cultural programme an outdoor, street-level presence. Rather than repeating the London project’s cow motif, it used a figure closely associated with Liverpool and connected the artworks to the city’s own cultural identity.
These projects illustrate how an animal sculpture trail can shift from one event model to another without requiring a fixed subject or setting. A city can select a figure that suits its programme, invite artists to interpret it, and place the finished works along routes used by residents and visitors. The sculptures make art visible beyond galleries, while the shared theme gives a trail a clear identity. Wild in Art’s later projects, including Bristol’s Gromit Unleashed, developed this approach through larger charitable programmes and post-trail auctions.
Gromit Unleashed
Gromit Unleashed brought the trail format to Bristol in 2013. The city hosted 80 Gromit sculptures, and the project raised £2.3 million for Bristol Children’s Hospital through The Grand Appeal (The Grand Appeal, 2013). Artists created individual designs on the familiar character, while sponsors and participating venues helped support and locate sculptures across the city. The result was an outdoor route where visitors could encounter artworks in public spaces rather than at a single exhibition venue.
The format linked a free-to-view trail with a fundraising process. During the display, people could follow the route and see the sculptures in different neighbourhoods; after the public exhibition, the artworks could be sold at auction to benefit the charitable cause. This gave each sculpture two roles: a temporary public artwork during the trail and a fundraising asset at its close. The Grand Appeal’s 2013 account records the £2.3 million raised for the hospital (The Grand Appeal, 2013).
The sequel, Gromit Unleashed 2, returned to Bristol in 2018 with 67 sculptures featuring Gromit, Wallace and Feathers McGraw (The Grand Appeal, 2018). Broadening the characters expanded the visual range of the trail while retaining a recognisable connection to the original project. As with the earlier event, artists’ designs appeared across the city, and the display was paired with charitable fundraising and an auction. The sequel showed that a successful trail could be revisited with a new theme and a different sculpture count, rather than simply reproducing the first event.
The wider legacy is practical: the public display attracts attention to a cause, while the later sale can turn temporary artworks into direct fundraising. For organisers, the format can evolve from one character and a city route into a repeat event with a wider cast, refreshed designs and a continuing charitable purpose. A compact, recognisable theme works best when the trail, public display and fundraising stage are planned as parts of the same project.
Why animal trails work
Animal forms make a route of public art easier to recognise at a glance: a repeated shape links separate works into one experience. Their curved, three-dimensional surfaces also give artists space to compose designs across the front, back and sides. A trail combines individual sculptures with a route map, so organisers can connect public art installations across several streets or parks. Its success still depends on practical choices: placement, access, upkeep and what happens to each sculpture when the event ends.
Familiar shapes
Recognisable animal silhouettes give passers-by an immediate visual cue: people can identify the subject before reading a plaque or event map. In their 1976 study of category formation, Eleanor Rosch and her co-authors described how people use basic-level categories to organise familiar objects. Applying that idea to a trail is a design judgement rather than a measured guarantee: a clear animal outline can make each sculpture easier to spot and discuss, while individual decoration rewards a closer look.
Animals also suit sculpture trails because their simple, widely liked shapes can be read from different angles and painted from every side. A route map then turns separate stops into a navigable sequence, with printed locations helping visitors plan a walk and find works they might otherwise miss. Compared with a permanent artwork at one fixed site, the temporary format concentrates attention within an announced event period and can bring visitors to several locations.
| Criterion | Temporary trail | Permanent artwork |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility | A route map lists each stop; visibility can be tracked through map distribution, route visits or digital map activity during the event dates. | Year-round presence depends on a visible, accessible site; assess sightlines from the main approach and record the location in local wayfinding. |
| Engagement | Multiple stops encourage exploration; organisers can count completed trail entries, event attendance or QR interactions against the published event period. | Engagement centres on one location; assess visits or public use at that site rather than route completion. |
| Cost | Budget for design, fabrication, transport, installation, promotion, event cover, removal and any storage or sale arrangements; costs recur for each trail edition. | Budget for design, fabrication, foundations, installation and a long-term maintenance allowance; major costs are concentrated before opening. |
| Maintenance | Plan condition checks during the event, a named repair contact and a removal date; surface damage may need attention before the trail closes. | Set an inspection and cleaning schedule for the material and site, with access and repair arrangements that continue after installation. |
| Longevity | Public display ends on the stated closing date; sculptures may then be sold, relocated, stored or retired, depending on the project plan. | Designed to remain in place beyond a single event, but actual service life depends on material, exposure, construction and funded conservation. |
The trail format offers concentrated visibility and several points of engagement without committing every sculpture to a permanent site. It also creates a firm deadline for installation and removal. A permanent commission avoids repeated event logistics, but requires a suitable location and a continuing plan for inspection and care.
Local artists and schools
Local artists bring knowledge of place and a range of visual approaches, while schools and community participants help extend a project beyond its public display. A clear commission identifies who approves designs, who supplies materials and how the finished work will be cared for. To make outcomes assessable, organisers can record participation and delivery figures rather than relying on general claims of reach.
- Commissioning: Set out the brief, fee, schedule, ownership and approval stages; appoint one lead artist to each sculpture commission so decisions and delivery responsibilities stay clear.
- Design: Invite local artists to develop proposals linked to the place or event theme, then assess each design for all-side visibility, durability and production requirements.
- Education: Teachers can connect sculpture design with drawing, colour, local history or three-dimensional making; record participating classes, pupils and completed activities.
- Workshops: Artists can demonstrate sketching, pattern planning and surface decoration in guided sessions; log the number of sessions, attendees and designs produced.
- Community input: Residents can contribute motifs, stories or feedback through a defined consultation; note the number of contributors and which suggestions inform the final designs.
- Legacy: Agree the post-event destination before fabrication, and retain approved designs, photographs and learning materials as a documented record for schools and partners.
These roles support delivery, education and outreach while creating countable outputs: commissioned designs, workshop sessions, participating pupils and recorded community contributions. Results depend on the scope and funding of each project, so participation totals should be reported from project records rather than treated as standard trail figures. In practice, animal trails are operationally flexible because one recognisable form can unite many separately designed works; their limits are event-time maintenance, route access and the need to plan each sculpture’s destination after display.
Questions about Wild in Art and CowParade
These animal art trails bring sculpture into streets and public spaces, often linking cultural events with charitable aims. The answers below clarify the organisers, the format’s early history and two widely recognised Bristol sculpture counts.
What is Wild in Art?
Wild in Art is a UK-based creative producer that organises public art trails, including trails featuring animal-shaped sculptures.
The organisation says it was established in 2008 and works with charities, councils, businesses and cultural partners to develop temporary outdoor art events (Wild in Art, About, n.d.). A typical project commissions artists to decorate a chosen sculpture form, then displays the finished works around a town or city for a set period. Organisers may add a trail map, digital guide, public voting or an auction, depending on the event. Wild in Art’s role is to coordinate and promote these projects rather than to operate as a single permanent exhibition. Its programmes are examples of public art installations designed to be encountered across everyday urban routes.
What is CowParade?
CowParade is a public art event in which artists transform life-size cow sculptures into individual works for display around a city.
The first CowParade took place in Zurich in 1998; the concept was subsequently staged in cities around the world, including Chicago in 1999 (CowParade, event history, n.d.). Each city’s edition adapts the same recognisable cow form to its own setting, with sculptures placed in public locations for residents and visitors to discover. A common part of the model is to auction sculptures after the exhibition and direct proceeds to charitable causes; the precise beneficiaries and arrangements vary by event. The CowParade format helped establish the large-scale animal sculpture trail as a repeatable civic event rather than a one-off gallery display.
Where did art trails start?
The modern, internationally replicated animal-art trail is generally traced to CowParade in Zurich in 1998.
CowParade’s event history records Zurich as the first edition, followed by Chicago in 1999, where painted cow sculptures were displayed across the city (CowParade, event history, n.d.). Other projects developed their own animal forms and local identities. In Liverpool, the original Superlambanana sculpture was unveiled in 1998; a city-wide trail of smaller versions followed in 2008 as part of the city’s cultural programme (Liverpool City Council, 2008). These examples show how the format expanded from a single sculpture design into temporary outdoor sculpture events, with artworks distributed across public places rather than gathered in one venue.
How many sculptures did Gromit Unleashed have?
Gromit Unleashed had 80 sculptures in 2013.
The Bristol trail placed individually decorated Gromit figures around the city during the summer, inviting visitors to follow a public route and see designs by artists and well-known creative contributors. The Grand Appeal, Bristol Children’s Hospital Charity, records 80 sculptures for the 2013 event (The Grand Appeal, Gromit Unleashed, 2013). Its sequel, Gromit Unleashed 2, featured 67 sculptures in 2018, including figures of Gromit, Wallace and Feathers McGraw (The Grand Appeal, Gromit Unleashed 2, 2018). The two totals refer to separate trails and should not be combined as the sculpture count for a single event.