The Chicago Cow

I passed this cow sculpture outside the Chicago Cultural Center on a walk around the Loop last week.  It's a smallish, unpretentious thing, not like that 16-foot-long charging bull statue down by Wall Street in New York.

I thought immediately that it must be a replica of Mrs. O'Leary's cow.  You remember, the one that kicked over the lantern and set off the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.  (See below.)

But no.  This Chicago cow statue is a reminder of Cows on Parade.  You probably remember this.  It began as a community event in Zurich in 1998, when local artists and celebrities decorated fiberglass cows that were placed all over the city.

A Chicago man was inspired by the display and brought it to Chicago the next year.  Here are a couple of the hundreds of Chicago Cows on Parade in Chicago in 1999:

There was of course an O'Leary Memorial Cow on the Chicago parade, but I couldn't find a photograph of it.

Cows on Parade was a huge success and went on to visit cities in the United States and 50 countries over 12 years.  It reportedly has been followed by a Lions on Parade, but this doesn't seem to have generated as much attention.  Maybe there is animals-on-parade fatigue.  Or maybe cows are a hard act to follow.

Anyway, back to the Chicago cow.  The man who brought Cows on Parade to the city gifted the statue to the city in memory of the event.  It is in no way way a major tourist attraction, but there are many pictures on the internet of the cow interacting with visitors.

People do like to participate in art.