Cincinnati, Ohio: Cincinnati's Winged Pigs

Once known as "Porkopolis," Cincinnati honors is porcine heritage with happy statues of winged pigs (dead pig angels?) around the city.

Sawyer Point Park

Address:: 727 E. Pete Rose Way, Cincinnati, OH
Directions:: At the entrance to Sawyer Point Park. On US 52/E. Pete Rose Way just south of I-471, opposite the intersection of Eggleston Ave.
Phone:: 513-352-6316

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Pigs.

Cincinnati's Winged Pigs

The original bronze pigs are shown in mid-takeoff on four columns.

[Jeff Foushee, 01/13/2021]

The pigs, atop four fake steamboat smokestacks, were designed in 1988. They represent the angelic spirts of all pigs slaughtered in Cincinnati ("Porkopolis") and sent down the river.

Winged pig from the community art project.

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]

June 2012: Photo added. The park's original bronze pigs might be overlooked ever since the city was stampeded by numerous fiberglass community art project pigs, many still visible around town. Regarding the older Winged Pigs, 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."