Cows About Cambridge sculpture trail: our bovine boffin
Bovine boffin Isaac Moo-ton has been selected as The Cambridge Independent’s very own painted sculpture in the Cows About Cambridge art trail.
As a newspaper that loves to celebrate the city’s scientific achievements we couldn’t resist sponsoring the amoo-singly titled scientist.
Today we are revealing the design painted by artist Donna Newman, who explains the idea came to her in a moment of inspiration about one of Cambridge's most famous alumni.
She says: “I have family in Cambridge and my husband comes from here, so I know it well. I decided to look into the history of the city and the university and when I read about Isaac Newton the pun just came to me and I knew it was the right choice.
“I have actually been involved with the Wild in Art sculpture trails for a couple of years now and so far I have painted 34 sculptures - everything from gorillas and giraffes to elephants and bears.
“I like to create human-looking characters when I paint the animals and I hope I have achieved that with Isaac Moo-ton. These sculptures seem to have taken over my life at the moment, but in my day job I paint murals. I really love working on the art trails because they always get a great reception and create a lot of excitement. It’s like a treasure hunt for people around their own city.”
Businesses around the city have sponsored the sculptures, which will be released onto the streets in March next year.
Artists were commissioned to decorate their blank sculptures, ahead of participation in the spring 2020 art trail.
The designs have been shortlisted from a record 380 submissions made by local and national artists keen to be involved in this high-profile event.
Cows about Cambridge is delivered by creative producers Wild in Art in partnership with local children’s charity Break, and is supported by inaugural sponsor and Principal Partner, Cambridge Business Improvement District (BID).
A Cows About Cambridge spokesperson said: "Recognised as one of the most influential scientists, this design celebrates the achievements of Sir Isaac Newton. Mathematician, physicist, astronomer, theologian and author, Newton, famous for his work on gravity, laws of motion and calculus. This playful design features some of his discoveries and inventions, the reflecting telescope, Newton’s cannon and light refraction and the attributed invention of the cat flap!"
Anonymous local street artists, Dinky Doors have already unveiled their MooMoo-o-Tron III - an armoured Cow that is helping to save the world.
Said Dinky Doors: “Cows about Cambridge share the view that public art is important. It's accessible to young, old, rich and poor, and isn't hidden in a gallery or locked away in someone's home. We're trying to *SAVE THE WORLD* from the relentless onslaught of terrible news, not just those lucky enough to be able to afford art. So the opportunity to create a piece of public art, but at a non-dinky scale, was hard to pass up. It's another *WORLD SAVING* step, only biggerer. We're delighted, and frankly flattered, to be a part of the project.”
Next spring the completed, udderly unique Cow sculptures will form a trail of discovery across the city, encouraging residents and employees from Cambridge and the surrounding areas to explore their environment from an exciting new perspective - while promoting wellbeing and an active lifestyle, and facilitating discussions on environmental issues. Schools and colleges will join in, by adopting and design their own ‘mini moos’, as part of a county-wide Learning Programme. Community groups will also have the opportunity to tell their stories by working with a regional artist to decorate their very own Cow.
At the end of the project, the Learning Programme and community Cows will find forever pastures back at the organisations that adopted them. The corporate Cows will be auctioned off in a glittering event that aims to raise more than £250,000 in aid of children’s charity Break.
Discover more about the project by visiting cowsaboutcambridge.co.uk #cowsaboutcambridge.
