He now sees them walking around the sculpture and telling visitors what it signifies. It's fun when people internalize their history,'' he said. The corporate-sponsored, fiberglass pigs in the Big Pig Gig will be auctioned in November to raise money for arts groups. The idea came from a 1998 public art project in Zurich, Switzerland, which featured more than 800 decorated fiberglass cows. That was mimicked in Chicago last year with Cows on Parade, where fiberglass cows on sidewalks became a tourist attraction.
Pigs are fun.
They're friendly,'' he said. Leicester hasn't been back to Cincinnati recently. He noted wryly that no one invited him to fire the starter pistol last year for the marathon. He thinks people in Cincinnati have accepted their history, after getting past the perceived drawbacks. They've grown up a bit.