Published: March 19, 2007 11:49 pm         

Horsing around: Fiberglass colts will be auctioned off at end of Colts camp

TERRE HAUTE — Everyone knows the Colts are coming to Terre Haute this summer.

But not everyone may know about the other colts coming to Terre Haute — of the horse-shaped, fiberglass variety.

“Horsing around in Terre Haute” will be a summer-long public art exhibit, with between 30 to 50 colt sculptures outdoors at various businesses throughout town starting around June 1.

“We’re doing it as a community project that’s also a fundraiser for the Swope,” said David Vollmer, director of the Sheldon Swope Art Museum. “It’s in the same vein as the cows in Chicago.”

The Swope is accepting proposals from artists to decorate the colts, and it’s also looking for sponsors.

For a $2,500 sponsorship, the museum would provide the artist. Sponsorship would be $2,000 if the business/donor provides the artist.

The sponsoring business would then be able to display the colt sculpture outside in front of the business.

The colts theme is not a coincidence, Vollmer said. “We are timing it as a celebration of the Colts doing their training here in Terre Haute.”

The colt sculptures will be trotting into town starting around June 1 and on display through the end of Colts training camp, when they will be auctioned — the horses, that is, not the football players.

The “Horsing Around in Terre Haute” fundraiser will benefit the Swope’s education programs and exhibitions, Vollmer said.

The artists will work with the same, standard fiberglass colt form, about 4 1/2 feet tall, 4 feet long and 11 inches wide. What will be different “is how the artist uses it as their canvas,” Vollmer said.

Artist Petra Nyendick, curator of Halcyon Contemporary Art, is painting the first sculpture using a “colt in nature” theme. One half will feature a colt in nature by day, with blooming flowers, butterflies and a yellow background.

The other half will have a night theme, with darkening shades of blue, stars, a moon and night creatures such as bats.

Vollmer asked her to do the first colt “to inspire people and to show them … how wonderful this project is,” she said.

Nyendick is enthusiastic about the colts project. “It’s good for the Swope, the artists, the community” and the businesses that sponsor the sculptures, she said. “It’s good for community spirit.”

Those interested in the “Horsing Around in Terre Haute” community art project can go to the Swope’s Web site, www.swope.org, or call (812) 238-1676.

Artists can submit proposals through April 20, and sponsorships will be accepted through the end of April.

“I think it’s a fun project and something the community can rally around and take pride in,” Vollmer said. It’s fun, festive and tied into that “other” Colt event coming to town.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.