This is a virtual geocache with no physical container. Enjoy a look around. There are instructions below to log the find.
How to Claim this Virtual Cache (Picture Method)
Since this is a virtual cache, there is no physical log book to sign. If you are caching with a smartphone, simply write your geocaching name on a piece of paper and take a picture of it with the cows in the background. Log the geocache online as usual and include the picture. You can take a selfie with the cows instead if you prefer. The picture just needs to demonstrate that you were there yourself.
How to Claim this Virtual Cache (Q&A Method)
If it's not convenient for you to attach a picture to your log, message me the answers to these questions instead.
- On the far right side of the cows there is a stainless steel plaque with the artist's name, Tonnesen. What is pictured there?
- According to a nearby sign, where do Kopp's cows come from? What are the children there like?
- Across from the cows there is a red and white sign which mentions a Wisconsin statute at the bottom. What is the number of the statute?
Once that's done, you can log your find online as usual. Do not put the answers in your log.
Permission and Hours
Permission to park in the parking lot has been granted by the restaurant's General Manager, Scott Borkin. You are welcome to visit when the restaurant is closed, but you may want to visit during daylight hours since the area is patrolled by police at night.
About the Cows
These twenty cow statues first appeared at Kopp's in 2005. The idea occurred to the owner of the restaurant, Karl Kopp. He had already leased the freeway embankment from the Department of Transportation and installed landscaping. He said later, "I was just looking at it one day and thought maybe I should just put in a herd of cows back there." The project cost $80,000.
An artist from Arizona named Bill Tonnesen created the statues. He said he wanted them to "appear to be floating in the branches of the trees." Originally the cows were going to be semi-translucent, but by the time they were installed, Tonnesen had made them opaque. On his website, the installation is titled "Black and White Cows."
The project ran into some trouble with the City of Glendale. According to newspaper accounts, a city planner denied a building permit necessary to install the cows because he said a line of cow statues next to a custard stand would function as advertising. Karl Kopp made a two-hour appeal to a Glendale citizen board, who agreed that the statues were art and not advertising because they were placed behind the building where they were hard to see from the street. One of the board members commented, "It’s in a place where I can’t imagine that someone would put advertising dollars."
On his website, Tonnesen said, "People wonder why one is black, sometimes thinking of race. It was actually to acknowledge the grief the Mayor gave us getting a permit."
Prior to the unveiling, Tonnesen put one of the cows under a tarp, tied it with rope, and pushed it on a hand cart from Chicago to Glendale as a performance component to the art. He said he pushed the cart for six days.
In 1999, the City of Chicago held a public art exhibit called "Cows on Parade," which featured life-sized fiberglass cows. For that exhibit, artists painted more than 300 cows and had them placed around the city. The idea quickly spread to other cities, including New York (2000), London (2002), Tokyo (2003), Brussels (2003), Dublin (2003), Prague (2004), and Stockholm (2004). Today there have been more than 5,000 cow sculptures at more than 80 cities around the world, and many similar exhibitions featuring other animals.
The statues at Kopp's are similar in concept to the ones from Cows on Parade, but the style is different. Tonnesen's cows are more tense and angular. Tonnesen said he wanted them to look like soldiers at attention.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and December 31, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.