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SPIRIT OF THE BUFFALO
Oklahoma is the 'home' where our 'buffalo roam.'
By Carolyn Branch Leonard
Published in FRIDAY 1 Sept 2004
OKLAHOMA CITY: Before statehood in the summertime, bison scattered out in small herds in search of cool-season grasses. Today, although the majority are nailed to the ground in the metro section, these life-size fiberglass animals are grazing around the state. The wooly mammal replicas are decorated by some of Oklahomas most talented artists,
Spirit of the Buffalo, a project of the Nature Conservancy, is based on a 1998 public art display of fiberglass cows in Zurich, Switzerland. A year later, Chicago promoted a similar idea and called it Cows on Parade, which was very successful. After auctioning off the painted cows, Chicago promoters followed up with sales of miniatures, popular with collectors around the world.
The Nature Conservancy, established in 1986, owns or manages 13 land preserves in our state, covering 84,000 acres. A few of the preserves are open to visitors. Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska is open every day, with no prior contact required. Docents are available to assist visitors at the Preserve on most days each week from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The Oklahoma chapter plans to invest proceeds from Spirit of the Buffalo in fighting the spread of invasive plant species, restoring native forests and prairies and monitoring the ecological health of the states streams and rivers.
The Spirit of the Buffalo project also supports local starving artists by putting some green in their pockets. Each buffalo nets at least $3,500. Out of that sum, the organization invested about $1,500 for an animal in the buff, and each artist receives $1,000 honorarium.
This is the first such project for the Oklahoma Chapter, according to philanthropy assistant Bryan Bloom.
The Nature Conservancy met with representatives of local art organizations and galleries, and made an offer for artists to help with the project. Artists submitted more than 350 proposals. Sponsors went through the drawings and selected ones they felt would best represent their organization. The art objects began appearing in May and others wandered in to join them. Some 85 of the completed animals can now be seen grazing around Oklahoma City, Norman and surrounding towns, as well as those wandering off from the main herd as far as Checotah, Clinton, Cheyenne, Lawton, Ardmore and Woodward.
Original plans called for a round up of the animals for a public Buffalo Auction, but Bloom says that is not going to happen.
"It appears now they have all been adopted," he said.
He said there had been some talk of herding all the animals to one pasture in OKC's entertainment center in Bricktown. Even though these mammals do not require pooper-scoopers, there is still the issue of permits to place them on public property such as sidewalks and parks.
It is hard to predict where the buffalo will remain, Bloom said.
For more information on the Nature Conservancy, and the Spirit of the Buffalo, go to www.spiritofthebuffalo.org. At the website, you will find lists of the artists and their projects, as well as information about where each animal was tethered.
Here is another hotlink to find where the Buffalo are located now:
http://www.spiritofthebuffalo.org/locations.html
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