Residents preparing life-size fiberglass
bovine for fundraiser

GEARHART — It’s anyone's guess what the neighbors thought when they spied what appeared to be an albino cow suspended in a tree in Carol and Michael Riley’s yard.  In truth, the Gearhart residents were just having a little fun with the life-size fiberglass cow they affectionately call Milk Dude. 

   “He spent all summer in the garden,” Carol Riley said. “After a couple of winter storms we found him resting on his horns.” What appears to be an eccentric garden statue is actually a “canvas” for Carol Riley to create a unique piece of art that will be sold for children’s charities. 
   Kows for Kids is a tool to raise funds for New Avenues for Youth, an organization that attempts to get homeless teens off the street and Trillium Family Services, a non-profit union of Waverly Children’s Home, Parry Center for Children and Children’s Farm Home. 

   The concept is patterned after a tourism-building project begun in Switzerland in 1998 when cows were painted by regional artists and designers and distributed throughout the country in public venues to promote the arts and the country. Since that year many cities in the U.S. have utilized
similar programs to raise money for charities.
   “When I was approached I thought it sounded like a kick,” Riley said. “But it was a lot more work than I thought it would be.” 
   Riley has been a studio artist for more than 28 years, living on the Oregon Coast but showing and selling most of her creations in Portland and Seattle.
   She currently hangs her art at Butters Gallery in downtown Portland.

(Photo of Carol's kow by Leslie Pugmire)
 

   “The cities are where most of the art business is done in the Northwest,” she said. Riley has a master’s degree in art from Reed College and spent a brief time teaching art at the high school level. Over a period of time Riley worked with the Artists in Schools program, helping students design and implement murals in their buildings.
   “I’ve done more than 75 murals in Oregon with kids,” Riley said. “I had the kids do drawings and sketches which I would use for the design. Then the kids would do the actual painting. Looking back, I can’t believe I had the energy to do it.”

   Riley is primarily a watercolorist and printmaker who specializes in still life.  She and 70 other well-known Oregon artists — as well as a handful of art school departments, design firms and corporate teams — were asked to use the fiberglass cows as a blank slate and create whatever work of art they desired on its surface. Sponsors donated the funds to purchase the cows
from a manufacturer in Poland and allow a stipend for the artists. 
   Carol Riley’s Kow is sponsored by US Trust. The Kows will be auctioned off this summer with all proceeds going to the children’s charities. Organizers expect to raise upwards of $1 million. 
   Mike Riley, a landscape designer, has been at his wife’s side since the very beginning of the project. 
   “I have a truck, that’s why I’m a partner in this,” he joked, referring to the many trips Milk Dude has made since arriving. (Photo: city kow)

   “Mike is so visual,” Carol Riley said. “I can bounce ideas off him.”
   “We both have really strong artistic ideas,” Mike Riley added. “I’m really just along for the fun.” His expertise assisted in the vital step that took the milk to the dude. The very coastal Kow, which sports both horns and full udders, is a surfer — complete with a real board.
   “We knew almost right away what we wanted to do with him,” Mike Riley said. “We think a lot alike in many ways but different enough that fun things happen.” The pair said when they learned a cow was coming to stay they immediately began a playful and childlike banter with words. Milk Dude was almost CowaBunga and Bossie Nova (complete with a celestial theme). 
    “We learned more about cows working on this project then we ever thought we would,” Carol Riley said. “We didn’t think it was anatomically correct until we had a long conversation with a 4-H student.”

    The Riley’s said they have received some interesting reactions from local residents who encounter Milk Dude. “Conversations usually began with ‘I have this cow...’,” Carol Riley laughed. 
   “The best one was at Sopko Welding ,” Mike Riley recalled. “Their secretary never missed a beat when I told her I needed to anchor a cow to a surfboard. She just said ‘We haven’t had one of those in awhile’. It’s been fun driving it around town. We get a lot of double-takes.”
   After de-mossing Milk Dude from his garden sojourn, local painting contractor Tom Lewis primed his entire body to ready it for the acrylics Carol Riley would use tocomplete his transformation. 
   The couple hoped to find a cast-off surfboard for the Kow only to discover that real surfers don’t give up their boards. 

   An unexpected benefactor came in the form of Hammer Surfboard owner Corey Davis, who offered to craft a custom board for Milk Dude. 
   Carol Riley describes Milk Dude’s primary colors and clean graphics as “kid-friendly.” In addition to his surfboard Milk Dude will sport humongous swim goggles. Riley laughs when she recalls her hesitation in adding the goggles. 

(Photo: Nordstrom's kow)

   “I thought ‘I can’t do that, surfers don’t wear goggles’. Then I realized that no one knows what surfing cows wear.”
   The Kows will be on display throughout downtown Portland beginning in April. Maps will be produced so interested art-seekers can take a walking tour of the display. Half of the Kows will be auctioned on the Internet and the other half will be sold at a gala in July. 

   “I hope Milk Dude goes someplace where he will be seen by children,” Carol Riley said. She said she will probably attend the auction, something she normally avoids when she donates art to a charity. “Usually it’s too hard to see my art auctioned off,” she said. “But this is a way to be a part of something good.”
   North Coast residents who wish to follow the fate of Milk Dude and the 99 other Kows can log onto www.kowsforkids.com. 
   Organizers also plan on marketing t-shirts, cards, and toys patterned after the individual artist’s creations. 

© 2002  Seaside Signal  Reprinted by permission