Horse Sculpture Show Brings Public Art To Downtown Freehold

FREEHOLD, NJ — In a nod to the borough's long equine history, 12 model horse sculptures will be posing on pedestals along Main Street through mid-October.

The Half Mile of Horses Art Walk Project opened Monday and will be on display through Oct. 15, Mayor Kevin Kane and the Borough Council have announced.

The project was funded by a grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs' Neighborhood Preservation Program and local sponsorships, said Dominica Napolitano, Neighborhood Preservation Program coordinator.

The Half Mile of Horses Art Walk is comprised of custom-painted horse sculptures decorating downtown Freehold’s Main Street, on display along East and West Main streets between Throckmorton and Spring streets, Napolitano said.

The sculptures are all designed by local artists and residents and visitors are invited to view the artwork and vote on their favorites. You can access the map with the voting link here. There is also a QR code attached to each sculpture base for the voting.

The link also provides the names of the artists and the titles of the works. Each artist describes the concept and sponsor under the photo of each entry. The photo used above, for example, is by artist Eileen Petruch who created "Born in Freehold, USA" in homage to local celebrity Bruce Springsteen.

And in racing tradition, there will be a ribbon ceremony in the fall for the Win, Place and Show sculptures.

The horse motif was selected to pay homage to the borough’s connection with the horse, Napolitano said, adding that Freehold Borough is home to Freehold Raceway, one of the oldest half-mile tracks in the country. And western Monmouth County is known for its horse farms.

Freehold Raceway's website says the Monmouth County Agricultural Society, formed in 1853, rented land at the current Raceway site in 1854 for a meet. Racing is believed to have taken place there as early as 1831, the site says.

So the horse concept was a natural, Napolitano said.

She said the borough solicited competitive proposals and 31 entries were received for the 12 available slots. The preservation board held a blind vote on each entry and the most popular entries were selected to go on to a second round.

The 12 finalists were supplied with a replica horse model fabricated in the borough by local business StoneDog Studios. Then the artists executed their designs on the horses.

Mayor Kevin Kane thanked the Neighborhood Preservation Program Steering Committee and Coordinator Napolitano, calling their work "innovative."

“I’m quite impressed by the talented artists and interesting concepts we have received,” Kane said.

And the Half Mile of Horses Art Walk may generate interest in the borough as an emerging arts destination, he added.

“This exciting project demonstrates our commitment to the arts and the history of our community.”

The mayor thanked the artists for their submissions and the community volunteers from Neighborhood Preservation, the Freehold Historic Preservation Commission and Downtown Freehold for collaborating on such an innovative project. The artists and sponsors are promoted through marketing material, written, social media, various events as well as by being on public display, the borough noted.

While viewing the Horse Walk, visitors can take enjoy other features of the borough's downtown. There is dining, local shops and services and a summer music scene with weekly concerts, Napolitano said.

And this won't be the last Horse Walk, Napolitano said. The borough and the preservation committee plan to make this an annual event with new horses designed each year.

"We expect thousands of visitors from throughout the region to come and admire these unique sculptures. As we all know, once you come, you’re going to come back," she said.