This summer Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design students created “Cowleidoscope,” a giant, dreamy blue and pink cow with magnificent iridescent wings. It’s part of the NYC CowParade, which this year benefits God’s Love We Deliver, a New York City-based charity that prepares and delivers meals for people living with severe illnesses.
“It gave students an opportunity to work on a public exhibition that benefits the local community,” says Prof. Anne Kong who oversaw the project. “They worked as a team to take the design from a sketch to a large-scale production, working with vendors, and experiment with a range of materials. This is the VPED experience!”
Have a cow? Is it possible? Yes, Cowleidoscope is being auctioned along with other cows. Bidding is open at Heritage Auctions through October 7. Since 1999, over $30 million has been raised for worldwide charitable organizations from auctioning the cows.
The VPED seniors involved in the project — Diana Rico, Gordon Qu, and Fean Manthachitra — worked in the VPED labs and David Stark studios in Industry City throughout the summer.
“It was a great learning experience, working alongside such renowned organizations. It heightened my interest in pursuing design production as a career,” says Gordon Qu.
“It was a most memorable project. I worked on such a large scale project with an incredible team, both from within FIT and outside FIT,” says Fean Manthachitra.
“It was an opportunity to work with students and faculty in-person when remote working was still prevalent,” says Diana Rico. “It was inspiring working on all phases of the fabrication.”
It’s in no small part to the work of the VPED production team that Cowleidoscope is among the fashionable and artistic elite. This year’s herd of 78 cows, according to Jerome Elbaum, founder of CowParade, “is the best we have ever produced,” he told the The New York Times.
Since late August, Cowleidoscope has been grazing at Industry City, a creative hub in Brooklyn. It’s one of eight “pastures” to host the cows this year.
Naturally, a fiberglass, 150-pound-plus cow requires a lot of resources for its adornment. MS Sign Inc. helped with execution of the wings. Big Apple Visual Group donated the floor graphics.
To learn more about the Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design program go to VPED at FIT.