Columnist Susan Snyder: CowParade is udderly fascinating

Friday, Sept. 14, 2001 | 9:36 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

I never saw a purple cow.

But give it a few months. CowParade is coming to Las Vegas in 2002, and the painted, fiberglass bovines to be displayed around the valley will make even a purple cow blush.

Local artists are chosen to paint life-size cow statues with different designs. The designs are shown to prospective sponsors -- residents, corporations and other organizations -- who pay for the cow and the artwork to be painted on it.

The cows are then displayed throughout town. After the exhibit has ended, the cows are auctioned off, and the money is given to local charities.

The event, spearheaded by CowParade Holdings Inc., already has raised millions for charities in Chicago, New York, Houston and Kansas City, Mo. Money from Las Vegas' cows will go toward charities that benefit children, the arts and education. The cows are to be on display from March 15-June 15.

"It's a community art show," says Marydean Martin, who is in charge of finding artists to paint the cow sculptures. "We want to have as many artists as we have sponsors."

Local artists John Main, Jim Severson and Roy Purcell came up with some prototype designs, just to get the sponsor drive mooving along.

There's "Moo-ver Dam" that depicts the famous dam on both sides of the cow and "Happy Honey-Moo," in which the fiberglass livestock sports images of Las Vegas wedding chapels.

Purcell features landscapes on his "Red Rock Cow," "Desert Cow" and "Cowctus" designs. He runs a Henderson design studio with his son and says painting a cow isn't that much more difficult than putting paint on canvas.

"If it has a surface, I can paint it," Purcell said. "I painted murals on granite rock faces in Arizona. I used auto enamels. That really held up."

It takes about a week to paint a cow -- in case you wondered.

Martin says she saw her first CowParade before anyone had even proposed bringing it to Las Vegas. She spotted a newspaper article about the one in Chicago, got to giggling about it all and booked a plane ticket for the next weekend to see them.

"Everybody would stop at the cows and smile and talk to each other," she said. "They're just the cutest, funniest things. I don't know how anybody could judge them. I'd want them all."

Cow statues will be available in standing, grazing or reclining positions. Paint and other materials used to decorate them must be weatherproof. And the designs must be appropriate for public display -- yes, even here. Religious, political and sexual themes will not be accepted. Corporate logos and advertising also are a no-no.

Submission deadline is Sept. 30. For a registration form and complete guidelines call 364-4962. Or check the website, cowparade.net.

The cows ought to fit right with our fake pirates, fake Eiffel Tower and little fake people standing around Henderson.

"There's no end to what we could do with cows here," Purcell said. "Imagine a whole parade of cows down the Strip."

Fiberglass cows don't make a mess. They stand still for painting.

"And they don't eat much," Martin added.