BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION A Cow for All Seasons

A Cow for All Seasons

WRITTEN BY: ANNEMARIE SLIBY

With a strong vision and a passion for art and the Town of Orange, three residents joined forces and formed a committee to create something special to honor the town’s bicentennial that townspeople could enjoy for years to come.

Because Orange began as a farm town 200 years ago and cattle is part of the town’s logo, it is inherent that a cow be incorporated into a segment of the town’s bicentennial celebration in some fashion—and what better way than to have lifesized, artistically painted cows displayed throughout the town.

Mary Shaw, Orange Town Clerk, researched different companies that sold life-sized statues and found a distributor, Behind the Fence Collectibles, in Southampton, New York. With the support of the Town, Shaw placed the order for three cows and to save on delivery, decided to pick them up herself.

Shaw says, “My husband Matt and I took a U-Haul truck onto the Port Jefferson Ferry and made our way out to the Hamptons.” Adding, “The ship’s security had quite a chuckle as their curiosity peaked when they opened the doors of the truck and saw three cows.”

A COMMITTEE WAS FORMED

Prior to investing in the cows, Mary invited her two artistic friends, Kathy McGuire and Lindsay Marieb, onto the cattle train, and they climbed on board the committee as ‘resident artists.’

“Now that we have them, where do we paint them, and what do we paint on them,” Shaw says.

The three bounced ideas off one another, coming up with different themes that were meaningful to the town. McGuire and Marieb were the masterminds of implementing the design and Shaw filled in with paint as needed. In the beginning, painting took place at the Paugusset Club while they were closed during the winter and early spring months, but later on, continued in McGuire’s garage.

As they got into painting the first cow, their vision began to unfold. McGuire said, “Initially, we were going to have three cows, but as we began painting the first one, we decided on four, and thought it would be really cool if we had one for each season.” The women even named the cows— April, June, Autumn, and Holly.

Shaw said, “Matt and I made the trip back to Southampton to gather the fourth cow to complete the seasonal theme.”

THE PAINTING BEGINS

First, each cow was sanded and primed with white paint, then a background/sky was added using colors of the corresponding season. The fall cow has an autumn sky—a more soothing background, which is less bold and bright than the blue backgrounds of the spring and summer cows. After the paint dried, they began painting the scenes, which were done free hand using a projector. Four scenes were painted on each cow with two per side.

Marieb says, “We have a farmer on each cow, as well as notable landmarks and annual town events,” trying to cover all things in town, such as the Country Fair, The Stone Otis House, the Firemen’s Carnival, and more.

“It wasn’t easy painting them,”Marieb says, “Because the cows have a raised texture to make it look like fur, and it was difficult to paint over, considering the details incorporated in each seasonal design.”

Artists and committee members from left to right, Kathy McGuire, Lindsay Marieb, and Mary Shaw in process of painting Autumn (the fall cow) in McGuire’s garage.

McGuire explains there is something secret or special painted on each cow and said, “Lindsay’s house number is painted on the mailbox on the spring cow; and the famous peacock, which happens to reside in my neighborhood, was included on the summer cow.”

COMPLETION

After each cow was painted, the varnishing process began to protect the cattle from the outdoor elements. Wearing a respirator, they applied three coats of outdoor marine varnish, which took three days.

From start to finish, each cow took about 13 out of 19 days to complete at 180 man-hours between the three committee members.

First Selectman, James Zeoli was the first to see each of them when completed. Zeoli says, “The artists did an amazing job on them and captured so much on each cow that represents Orange. We can all look forward to seeing them around town for years.” A target date of completion was planned for each cow, which coincided with a town event. The spring cow was unveiled at the Founders Day Event in May, the summer cow made its debut at the Bicentennial Family Picnic in June, and the fall one joined the other two at the Country Fair. At press time, the women were in process of painting the winter cow, which will be launched at the Tree Lighting and Holiday event in December. Shaw explains how Chris Small, the grounds supervisor for the town, was very instrumental in transportation of the cows to all events and says, “He took great care while handling them. He covered them, and using tie down straps, moved them on a trailer when and where they were needed.”

THE COWS’ FUTURE

Now that the bicentennial is coming to an end, a definitive plan for the cows’ future has not been decided, but they will always be on display at the Country Fair for years to come. 

Photo: Paula Severino

April, June, and Autumn standing proud at Town Hall.