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March 2006
Why Cows?
How painted cows, concrete crocodiles and prancing ponies could save future generations.
By: Larry Duffy
Creative Director
I was out of town for a few days recently and upon my return I discovered that the cows had also come home. I’m speaking of course of the brightly painted cattle that can be found grazing lazily about New Town. Upon their arrival, a friend of mine asked "why cows?" to which I would respond, "why not cows?"
When painted cows started appearing on street corners and plazas in the Chicago several years ago, part of their appeal was the irony of turning a corner in a large urban setting and being confronted by a brightly colored bovine. I’m sure over time even the most jaded city dwellers reconciled with the idea of livestock mingling with taxis and hot dog stands. Our New Town cows now reside in open fields, but I suspect they may eventually roam throughout town. Regarding cattle in general, I actually prefer the painted variety. They don’t require fences and they don’t produce methane so they’re better for the environment. I’ve also enjoyed watching the dogs barking at them which provide an alternative to barking at each other.
However, the one group who seem to welcome the cows most enthusiastically is children. They haven’t been shy about running up and patting or hugging them. Their initial reaction seems to be one of amusement rather than shock, and they very quickly take the cows’ presence in stride. Kids still have that inherent ability to experience and enjoy new things without the cynicism that pervades most adults. If you’re like me, growing up in suburbia didn’t provide many opportunities to interact with art, unless you count lawn jockeys and the occasional burrow. Many of us where never exposed to art unless we took a field trip to the Art Museum. Even then we were likely so intimidated by the vastness of it all that it made it difficult to appreciate what we were seeing. The simple fact is that art enriches lives, and children’s minds especially are ripe for enrichment. It is our obligation as parents to make sure our kids turn off the computers and dislodge themselves from the television and go outside and imagine. Let them go to the park and climb on the crocodiles and turtles. Let them give a cow a karate chop like I saw one little girl do.
New Town provides an opportunity for children to be exposed to many art forms all within their own neighborhood and that is a rare and special thing. The Amphitheater provides access to cinema, theater and live music. I was pleasantly surprised at how enthralled my own children were while watching the live production of Romeo & Juliet this past summer. It taught me that, thankfully, they could be entertained by someone other than Spongebob. That’s not a knock at Spongebob who I have certainly spent more time watching than I have spent reading Shakespeare. But Shakespeare requires a commitment that television does not.
And speaking of reading Shakespeare, the Prancing Pony Books and Café gives kids yet another opportunity to immerse themselves in the arts. Instinctively they seem to head for the small table in the children’s section and start pillaging the books. It’s like having the Bookmobile permanently parked up the street only better because the Bookmobile didn’t sell Blue Bubblegum Soda. It’s a great thing for kids to get comfortable in a bookstore at an early age. As their minds’ expand, they will venture out of the children’s section and come across books they may have otherwise never discovered.
So send in the cows, and let your kids come to expect art, music and literature to be a part of their everyday lives, and watch them flourish because of it. They should grow into adulthood wanting nothing less for their own children.
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