Cow in the Corn statue in Lincoln gets a little sprucing up
Lincoln Arts Institute to unveil Moses Pinkerton Gallery on Thursday

[August 23, 2022]   LINCOLN - This past Thursday afternoon, local artist and owner of the Lincoln Arts Institute Jason Hoffman was up in the air over the Cow in the Corn Statue in Lincoln, literally. The statue located on Sangamon Street is the work of the late Moses Pinkerton.

It was created by Pinkerton and given over to the city in 2014 as a new Route 66 attraction.

Since that time, the cow has smiled happily at passersby on Sangamon as well as passengers traveling through town on Amtrak.

Hoffman said that over the last few years, the statue has held up remarkably well, but it was time to give it a little sprucing up.

When the statue was set in place, the eyes of the cow were a glittery material that reflected light and sparkled back at visitors. Hoffman said Pinkerton knew the glitter would be the first thing to wear out on the statue. In preparation for that day, he had cut the pupils of the cow’s eyes in the shape of clouds. Visitors viewing the cow would then be able to gaze into the eyes on a beautiful day in Lincoln and see blue skies and clouds on the other side.

Hoffman said that he was providing the labor and materials for the necessary work. To get to certain sections of the statue, Hoffman had to utilize a lift. He said that he wanted to acknowledge and thank the city of Lincoln for providing the lift.

Hoffman said that cleaning up the cow and making her pretty again was not going to take that much effort on his part. The paint on the statue has held up well and required only some touch up work. The area around the pupils of the eyes would need work, but he anticipated that the work would all be completed by the beginning of Balloons Over 66 weekend on August 26th.

In addition, he said that working on the cow that Pinkerton put so much time and love into was a great segue for the grand opening this Thursday, August 25th of the Moses Pinkerton Gallery at the Lincoln Arts Institute.

Work has been underway for a while to prepare the third floor of the Lincoln Arts Institute on McLean Street as a memorial and tribute to Pinkerton.

The third floor gallery will house the works of the Lincoln Arts Institute membership, many of whom were members of the Logan County Arts group that Pinkerton belonged to and supported through the monthly exhibits.
 

LAI co-owner Marcia Cook said the use of the third floor gallery is still being decided in regard to how often exhibits will change out and whether or not there will be special third floor events.

In the meantime, the special gallery will be available to visitors in conjunction with the monthly exhibits on the first floor of the institute.

The Lincoln Arts Institute will be open this weekend as part of the Balloons Over 66 events. Visitors will be able to view the current first floor exhibit and also go upstairs to see the works on display in the Pinkerton Gallery.

In addition, the LAI is hosting an Art Fair outside the building on McLean Street with local artists setting up to show off and sell their works to those looking for good local works for their collections.



The Cow in the Corn statue was installed on Sangamon Street on July 20th, 2014. The support for the statue was provided by the Main Street Lincoln organization. During the installation, Tracy Welch, who was then Main Street Lincoln President presented Pinkerton and Hoffman with a check to cover expenses for the statue.



The statue was constructed by Pinkerton, Hoffman and a team of volunteers. Later in the year there was a ribbon cutting a dedication at the statue hosted by the city of Lincoln.
 

Anton Michael “Toby” Prange AKA Moses Pinkerton, 67, of Lincoln, passed away on June 24, 2020. Hoffman and Cook were able to acquire the Lincoln Art Institute and Think Tank after Prange’s passing. The new owners re-named the institute adding an ‘s’ to art and dropping the Think Tank. Continuing in the tradition of Pinkerton, monthly exhibits are hosted on the first floor of the gallery with artist receptions held on the second Thursday of each exhibit month.

The building is also utilized for Cook’s business, The Moksha Center.

During exhibit months (February through November), the LAI is open on Friday evenings from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday’s from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Appointments may also be made for private viewings by contacting Hoffman at 309-287-3744.

The community is encourage to join Hoffman and Cook on Thursday evening at the Lincoln Arts Institute for a ribbon cutting event to unveil the new third floor gallery at 5:30 p.m. on the third floor. The public is invited to attend, but should be forewarned that access to the third floor is by stairway only.

[Nila Smith]