Where the beauty of horses and art intertwine

For the past four months there have been 16 fantastical horse statues spread around the Carolina Foothills. If you haven’t seen them all yet, time is getting short but you’ve now got two great viewing options.

First, some background: the 16 painted fiberglass horses comprise the “Art of the Horse” project, conceived and produced by the Our Carolina Foothills organization. OCF is 501c3 non-profit with the mission of promoting our area, especially the four towns of Tryon, Columbus, Saluda and Landrum. OCF was the brainchild of Suzanne Strickland, owner of Landrum’s Stone Soup Restaurant, who was soon joined in the group’s leadership by independent marketing consultant Mindy Wiener.

“Our goal with Art of the Horse was to draw attention and visitors to our towns and outlying areas by doing something that hadn’t been done before, which would generate media interest and raise funds for future OCF initiatives,” Suzanne explained.

The project began in May 2015 when artists were invited to submit ideas, with the winning concepts chosen by a jury from the Asheville Art Museum. With the cost of the statues funded by business, group and individual sponsors, blank white horses were delivered to the artists who brought their concepts to life with a variety of unique treatments. All American Auto Body of Columbus then applied a special weatherproof coating, and the horses were then delivered to their designated sites beginning in April.

~ Written by Judy Heinrich. Photos by Claire Sachse, Mark Schmerling and Erik Olsen Photography