9/4/2014 — Phil Cline, former CPD Supt. and Bethany O’Reilly, President of the Gold Star Families, enlighten us on the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and their upcoming city-wide event.
News
NBC
Remember Cows On Parade? Now Chicago Police Memorial Foundation is launching the Police Horses On Parade art exhibit to benefit the families of Chicago Police Officers who have died in the line of duty.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Superintendent Garry McCarthy at a Tuesday news conference announcing Chicago’s newest public art display, ‘Horses of Honor.’
Is that a horse stable outside of Starbucks? Magnificent Mile visitors could be asking that question next month, as installation of at least 50 life-size horse statues begins along Michigan Avenue.
The public art project featuring 6-foot-tall, 6-foot-long statues made of weatherproof fiberglass will also serve as a fundraiser for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, which assists families of fallen or severely injured officers.
“The horses do represent our commitment to the living and dead officers and to their families” – Art Hannus
Each statue will be decorated by local artists and will have carried with it a minimum donation of $2,500 to the foundation. All but one of the horses will also be named after officers who have died in the line of duty, said project organizers, who held a news conference Tuesday at the Chicago Police Department headquarters.
Ron Vasser, supporter of the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, salutes a friend during a press conference announcing Chicago’s newest public art display “Horses of Honor” at the Chicago Police Department headquarters.
DNAINFO.COM
A fleet of Chicago Police horses will soon descend on Michigan Avenue — but they won’t be there to fight crime.
Instead, 50 horse statues decorated by local and international artists will be installed along the Magnificent Mile through the end of November as part of the “Horses of Honor” initiative benefiting the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
The horses will be auctioned off after they’re removed from the Mag Mile in November.
WGN
Inside a suburban garage, miles from where it will stand guard, a symbol of police pride is taking shape.
Rich Koranda is part of the team bringing life to what used to be a plain fiberglass horse that will honor fallen Chicago cops.
Rosemary Fanti is the other half of the team that took this sketch on paper and applied it with glue, paint and imagination.
“It was literally a blank canvas,” Fanti said.
The two designed one of dozens of horses being created now, each named for a fallen police officer, that will stand along Michigan Avenue and other Chicago streets next month. The attention-grabbing design is meant to lure curious passersby.
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
A herd of horse statues — each honoring a police officer killed in the line of duty — will take up residence this fall on sidewalks all over the downtown area.
The equine invasion is part of fundraising effort by the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation, which raises money for the families of slain Chicago police officers.
Each life-size horse — there will be about 100 total — will represent an officer killed in the line of duty.
They will be painted with unique designs chosen by businesses that sign up to sponsor a horse, at prices beginning at $2,500.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Charity that provides financial support to injured Chicago police officers and the families of those killed in the line of duty will install as many as 100 life-size horse statues throughout downtown Chicago this fall, organizers said Sunday at an event honoring fallen officers.
The program is modeled after the Cows on Parade public art installation, which began in Chicago in 1999 and has since traveled the globe, raising more than $25 million for nonprofit organizations.
The horse sculptures, manufactured at a Logan Park statuary, are designed to resemble Chicago’s Mounted Patrol Unit horses. Each will be decorated by a local artist and named for a fallen officer, according to organizers. The sculptures will be placed at tourism destinations, corporate atriums, parks, plazas and private businesses from September through November.
UNIVISION CHICAGO
DNAinfo
BRIDGEPORT — For Erika Vazzana, the call to participate in the city’s newest public art project didn’t come straight from the horse’s mouth.
Instead, it came from a representative of the marketing agency facilitating the project, which asks local artists to paint 50 fiberglass replicas of the police department’s mounted horses that’ll be placed along the Magnificent Mile and auctioned off to raise money for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation.
The statues will be on display through the end of November as part of the “Horses of Honor” initiative benefiting the memorial foundation, which gives money to the families of fallen officers, supplies college funds for their children, and helps pay for rehabilitation and other necessary care for officers who survive injuries in the line of duty.