An Unfortunate Move For Newtown’s Bovine Beauty

By Shannon Hicks

Following a successful debut over Labor Day weekend, the pink cow sculpture known as Madame Bovinity has made an early departure from Newtown.

Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve, an anonymous collective of artists who grew up in town or have lived in town for a number of years, created the sculpture as a take-off on New York City’s popular summer art exhibition Cows on Parade, or CowParade™ 2000. The nearly life-size sculpture appeared on one of the park benches in front of Edmond Town Hall during the very early hours of the Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend.

A note posted next to the artwork explained the purpose of Madame Bovinity. The artwork was simply for the enjoyment of the people of Newtown.

Madame Bovinity showed up with her own coffee supply and reading materials, and was securely chained to the park bench on which she sat for her three-day visit at 45 Main Street. She enjoyed three days of good weather, with just a few passing showers, and was seen and enjoyed by hundreds of people during the annual Newtown Labor Day Parade on Monday, September 4.

The sculpture was removed from the park bench by its creators late Monday evening or early Tuesday morning, and a notice was posted to let fans know the disappearance was only temporary. The artwork was in the safe hands of its creators, Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve, and Madame Bovinity was expected to be making another appearance in Newtown the following weekend.

After a few touch-ups and additions to her costume, Madame Bovinity reappeared in town on Saturday, September 9, this time on one of the benches on Queen Street between My Place restaurant and Fleet Bank. The pink creature looked as lovely as she had the previous weekend, and this time out she had an additional earring and a custom-made purse that matched not only her outfit (a ballet tutu and gold pumps) but also her complexion. She also had a notebook, with the implication that visitors were welcome to leave messages concerning the public art.

Unfortunately, Madame Bovinity’s appearance did not go as well the second time around.

Some time between 5 pm Saturday, September 9, and 7 am Sunday, September 10, the cow disappeared. This time, it was not at the hands of Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve. The sculpture’s locked cable had been cut and the only thing left at the scene was a gold cord that had been attached to the autograph book.

There are a few possibilities, each of which have been explored by Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve. In a letter sent to The Newtown Bee dated September 10, the group wrote “It is possible… that Newtown Police may have found her to be a traffic hazard or had violated some code we were not aware of and so chose to remove her.

By mid-week, the group had spoken with a member of Newtown Police Department. The police did not, according to the group, “have a pink cow under interrogation and there seemed to be no lawns on the books about pink cows loitering in the town square after dark.”

The artists’ group admitted  that some vandalism was bound to happen, “but we never thought she would be removed from so public and well traveled a spot.”

The second scenario the group is considering is that someone has only borrowed the sculpture.

“The… least likely [prospect] was the possibility that another artist would abscond with her and change her in some way. It is our hope, albeit slim, that she will spontaneously appear elsewhere in town either intact or with a new personality,” continued the artists. Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve had in fact planned to have Madame Bovinity appear in at least two more locations around town. There was also aplan for a sequel later in the year, especially now that Madame Bovinity has been found, according to Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve, to be “with calf.”

Without pointing fingers, the artists have some ideas of who may have helped their cow move from her Queen Street seat. The hope, of course, is that she is at least happy in whatever pasture she has turned up in.

A monetary reward is being offered by Newtown Artists on the Moo-ve for information that would lead to the recovery of Madame Bovinity.Anyone with information is being asked to send email to madame_bovinity@yahoo.com.