CowParade comes to San Luis Obispo: Are You Ready to Hit the Cow Trails?

Cows and art? Yep, it’s a thing. And it’s called CowParade. CowParade is like 4-H for the art scene. Instead of live cows sold at auction, you can buy a fiberglass cow decorated by a famous artist, celebrity, or designer. All proceeds go to charity. You get a unique creation and a non-profit gets extra funds. A win all around. You can see these unique creations on the “Cow Trails” in San Luis Obispo through May 2017.

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CowParade

CowParade is mooving along…

Hosted in 79 cities around the world, the CowParade is considered “the largest and most successful public art event in the world.”

Life-sized fiberglass cows in three shapes (grazing, reclining, and standing) are decorated and displayed in various locations in the host city. The cows are sold at auction to raise money for charity. 2,500 cows have been created by artists, designers, and celebrities such as Kate Spade, Peter Max, Ronnie Wood, James Rizzi, Man One, and Radiohead.

Fun fact: A mosaic cow, Wage Moo, sold for $146,00 in 2003.

CowParade SLO

Blank fiberglass cow. Slo motion. Man One. TravelingWellForLess.com

SLO Motion blank canvas

San Luis Obispo hosted CowParade SLO at the Madonna Inn where Los Angeles based graffiti artist Man One live painted a cow alongside his biggest fan, local young artist Dylan Ehmke on September 17, 2016.

Man One & Dylan Ehmke at CowParade SLO. TravelingWellForLess.com

Dylan Ehmke and Man One painting their cows

I was in San Luis Obispo that weekend and CowParade SLO was a rare sight to see. The creativity that went into designing each udderly unique cow was so mooving. It gave me a butter appreciation and brand new perspective on art. 🙂

Here are a few of the cows that stood out among the herd:

Complete with a grate, Marilyn Moonroe was a crowd pleaser.

Marilyn Moonroe

Picowso

Homage to Picaso

Steam Punk Bessie

Who ya calling punk?

Moonipero Serra

On a mission

Starry Night

It was a dark and starry night

Cowch Cow

Have a seat

Dia de los Moouertos

Clarabelle

If wine making could only be that simple.

Poke-a-Cow

Visit SLO and hit the CowParade SLO cow trails. Can you catch them all?

CowParade San Luis Obispo Cow Trails

Missed CowParade SLO? You can see the cows on display throughout San Luis Obispo County through May 2017.

Stop by the San Luis Obispo Visitor Center to pick up a map or use the Interactive Cow Trails Map on the CowParadeSLO website.

The San Luis Obispo Visitor Center is located at 895 Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo. Hours are 10 am to 5 pm, Sunday to Wednesday. And 10 am to 7 pm, Thursday to Saturday.

Uploading photos to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat? Remember to tag them with #shareslow and #cowparadeslo.

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Megan

Wednesday 5th of October 2016

How fun! I hadn't heard about this before but sure it was a good time. I like the one that's also a bench.

Debra Schroeder

Tuesday 1st of November 2016

Hi Megan,

Cowch Cow was one of my favorites too. Cool, artistic, and practical. :) Thanks for stopping by.

Carol Colborn

This looks like so much fun and lots of color! We will try to go to the next one! Thanks.

Hi Carol Colburn,

Glad you liked the post. Thanks for reading. :)

Anne Klien ( MeAnne)

Definitely a great day out for the kids. Those colourful cows looks so cute and good for photography day!

Hi Anne Klein (MeAnne),

Glad you enjoyed the post. :)

melody pittman

Monday 3rd of October 2016

This is so cool! I visited SLO earlier this spring (my first time) and was so impressed with this awesome city. Now the Cow Parade...wow! I wonder if this is a new exhibit because I've never heard or read about it before. Definitely a fun city to make a stop in. Loved all of your photos.

Hi Melody,

Thanks, glad you liked the photos. Yep, it's a new exhibit that debuted the middle of September.

It's a temporary exhibit so you'll want to revisit SLO by May 2017.

Lesley

Sunday 2nd of October 2016

So bizarre but really unique. I love San Luis Obispo and the "bizarre" there like the gum wall. My favorite is the Steam Punk Bessie.

Hi Lesley,

That's the cool thing about San Luis Obispo, it's not quite a typical city. Steam Punk Bessie is pretty cool. :)