Be a part of the summer’s biggest art installation and help support local arts at the same time! The Lassen County Arts Council’s community art event, The Art of Wild Horses, has officially begun and horses are ready to be adopted by your business or organization.
How does it work?
The Lassen County Arts Council has two sizes of wooden horse cutouts ready for you to decorate. They have a limited supply of horses available, 30 of each style; the Racing Mustang size is yours to decorate for a $50 donation and the larger Rising Stallion, with plenty of room for creative decorating is yours for $100.
The horses will be on display again by the Pavilion and horse stalls throughout the Lassen County Fair, where the community will have the opportunity to vote on a People’s Choice award for each style horse. LCAC volunteers will host the exhibit and accept votes for People’s Choice awards.
It truly is a way for your business or organization to contribute to the arts and to make art at the same time!
Last week the Arts Council took delivery of the horses, which were cut out and put together by vocational education students at the California Correctional Center.
“Once again, the warden was very generous in taking on this project for us and we greatly appreciate it,” said Arts Council Board Member Roxanna Haynes. “Eric Mumaw was instrumental in the coordination of this effort as well and we would like to thank them all for their efforts and support.”
There will be two People’s Choice awards, one for each style of horse, with voting occurring during the fair.
The Arts Council has two sizes of horses to work your creative magic on; the Racing Mustang shown above and the even larger Rising Stallions. People’s Choice awards for both sizes will be voted on at the Lassen County Fair.
This event represents a major fundraiser for the Arts Council. In less than 10 years, the California Arts Council, the primary grantor of funds to the LCAC, has lost more than $25 million in state assistance.
Haynes said that much of the funding for the arts in our schools and performances in our community is generated through grants and fundraising; these funding sources vary from year to year, leaving our students and our community without a consistent opportunity to be exposed to fine arts, music and cultural experiences.
The People’s Choice award for the racing mustangs went to the Stubbs family at last year’s fair.
Funds raised by the summer art project will assist the arts council in bringing art-focused events, workshops, performances and special guests to the community.
Last year money from the Wild Horses project helped bring the Reno Dance Company and The Nutcracker to Susanville, an event unseen in our area for more than 35 years. The Nutcracker was featured more than 75 local children and more than 15 professional dancers.
You can adopt your horse now at the Arts Council Gallery on Cottage Street, and the deadline to return the decorated horse is July 14th to give organizers time to create the art installation at the fairground. Call the Arts Council today at 257-5222 or Roxanna Haynes at 310-6050 to reserve your horse before they are all taken.
“The response to our Community Art Event has been amazing,” says Haynes, “and we are looking forward to seeing the beautiful and creative artwork.”
The People’s Choice Award in the Rising Stallion category went to U.S. Bank of Susanville!