The first project of this sort that I am aware of (no doubt there are others) was the Cow Parade.   Someone or some organization had the idea of making fiberglass cows and giving these to artists to decorate as they chose.   They first appeared in Europe, but when they were in Chicago it was a huge boon to the tourist industry to have all these wonderful, brightly colored cows out on the street.  And then I think they raffled or sold off the herd.

I’m not sure if this rather drably painted cow is from the cow parade, but I can’t imagine why else the local liberal arts (emphasis on liberal) college would have this in front of a building.   Our very own town cow, the only one left in the city limits.

No doubt inspired by the Cow Parade, some local organization sponsors butterflies, which are painted up by local artists and then sold to promote whatever worthy cause they adopted.

There are a bunch of these located nearby, and Miss P and I spotted these on a walk.

This one is downtown by some lawyer’s office.

This one is outside of one of our favorite restaurants.  Miss P loves to go there for the steak and fries or the freshly made sausages.

This is my absolutely favorite butterfly.