A Different Trail For Painted Colts

It may be an unusual sight for Terre Haute, Indiana … people walking around downtown wearing summer clothes, snapping pictures and leading young children by the hands, looking — in short — like tourists.

But that’s what has been going on since the SheldonSwopeArt Museum’s “Horsing Around in Terre Haute” fund-raiser hit the sidewalks of the city and other parts of town. 

Several local businesses and organizations have sponsored fiberglass colts that have been decorated by WabashValley artists.

The 4 1/2-foot-tall colts are visible all around town and attracting admiring attention. “I don’t think I’ve seen so much activity downtown,” said Mary Ann Michna, curator of the SwopeArt Museum. “It’s bringing people to the city,” she said.

There are 30 fiberglass colts in total. The bulk of them are downtown, but many are outside the city.

“It’s fun. It’s different,” said Steve Hardin, a reference/instruction librarian for IndianaStateUniversity. Hardin was out taking photos of downtown colts during his lunch hour Friday afternoon and had seen about 12 so far, he said.

The fiberglass colts are the centerpiece of a fund-raiser for the SwopeArt Museum.

The image of a colt was selected because Terre Haute is home to the Indianapolis Colts training camp, Swope officials have said.

“It’s a natural attraction” to the colts, Michna said. People are making time to come to Terre Haute to see the different colts — in many cases seeing as many as they can in a single day.

“It’s getting people out and around the city,” Michna said. “It’s almost like an Easter egg hunt.”

Story Link: