Cincinnati, Ohio -
Cincinnati's Winged Pigs

Cincinnati's winged pigs are a notable omission in Roadside America. This doesn't reflect an anti-big-city bias; does it? Please don't tell me Cincinnati has somehow copyrighted the use of its public art.

From a 1999 account in the Enquirer: "To celebrate the city's 200th birthday [in 1988], plans were made to build a riverfront park -- Bicentennial Commons at Sawyer Point -- that would include an entrance sculpture. From more than 50 proposals, a team of renowned artists and architects selected a sculpture design by Andrew Leicester, an internationally known artist based in Minneapolis.

"Mr. Leicester included in his sculpture four 3-foot-high bronze pigs, with wings. They appeared to be blasting out of 30-foot-tall riverboat smokestacks." The allegory runs deep. [Chuck Rhode, 12/14/2003]

[RA: Just one we haven't gotten around to visiting! From our 1988 notes: "Sculptor Andrew Leicester created these winged pigs on top of pillars resembling paddlewheeler smokestacks for Cincinnati's bicentennial. Cincy was once known as Porkopolis. The disappointing Poland-China Hog Monument is in Cincinnati."]