Above: A blank hog statue, ready to be painted by an area artist.

FAIRMONT– Calling all area artists. You’re needed for a community project. Going Hog Wild hopes to serve as a way to draw attraction and tourism by promoting businesses, organizations and cities throughout Martin County.

Going Hog Wild is a collaboration between Project 1590, Martin County Arts Council and Bacon Capital USA. The idea is to have area businesses and organizations sponsor a hog that will represent them. The hogs will also promote Martin County as it’s in the top five pork producing counties in the country.

Alex Young-Williams, a Lead for Minnesota Fellow serving Fairmont through Project 1590, is also a member of the arts council. He said they received an $8,000 Prairie Lakes Arts and Cultural Heritage grant, applied through Project 1590, to use for the project.

The grant money will, in part, allow for each artist to receive a $300 stipend for each hog they complete. Paint will be provided, but artists should plan to use their own supplies.

Jeff Rouse, a member of the arts council, said they’re starting with 32 hog statues, all of which have been spoken for. Ten of them are at a warehouse in the area, ready to be painted. He said they’ll be picking up another batch in the next few weeks.

The majority are going in the Fairmont area, but will also be sprinkled throughout the entire county. As a long-term goal, Rouse said he would like the see 100 hog statues throughout the county in the next three years.

Each hog is 2 ft. tall and weighs almost 400 pounds. They sit on a 2 ft. platform and were manufactured locally in Kellogg, Minn.

Young-Williams said, “We have an online application form that people can fill out, but if they’re more comfortable making a video submitting and emailing it to us that would be just as good.”

The form includes basic information and a question about why they’re interested in the project. They’re also able to email pictures of work samples.

“The last question is on availability over the winter. We’re hoping to do one week segments and hopefully have two different artists in the warehouse every week to make sure we finish them by spring,” Young-Williams said.

He said they would like to get artists in the warehouse by mid-December.

There is no cap on how many artists are used. They’re open to having 10 artists do three hogs each or 30 artists do one each if there’s that much interest in it.

Young-Williams said they welcome anyone who is a person of color to apply.

“We’d definitely prefer someone local since it’s a project that’s trying to promote the pork industry in Martin County,” Young-Williams said.

Once the application deadline passes, the arts council will take a look at the submissions and start the process of matching artists to businesses. Young-Williams said they anticipate painting the hogs will be a co-creative process between the artist and business or organization.

“We’re hoping to have a few downtown and to continue the momentum we had from the mural unveiling. We’d like to continue to encourage public arts projects like this,” Young-Williams said.

The deadline to apply is Nov. 30. Interested people can send an email to alex.youngwilliams@gmail.com for application information.

Rouse shared why this is a good opportunity for area artists.

“It gives them the chance to not only use their creativity, but help highlight businesses and organizations around the community. They can also be part of a local art scene that’s growing.”