LEXINGTON, N.C. — Walking through Lexington, North Carolina you can find several artistic pigs scattered around town. Some sit outside on display, while others sit inside various businesses. It’s all part of an effort to revitalize the area.
Pigs in the City is a public art initiative coordinated by Uptown Lexington Inc. WFMY News 2’s Lauren Coleman interviewed Executive Director Travis Stewart to find out why the pigs are so special.
Why are there so many pigs scattered around Lexington?
“Since we are the Barbecue Capital of the World, we decided that this would be a good public art initiative. It started in 2003 and we’re celebrating the 20th anniversary of Pigs in the City. We wanted to do one pig, but I talked to a local artist at Art 101 and he said, ‘No that’s not big enough, we got to go bigger.’ So he has taken it upon himself to reach out to all the previous owners of these pigs throughout the last 20 years and we have about 70 of them coming back for ‘Home for the Hoggidays’ that will be in conjunction with our Christmas open house on November 19 in Uptown Lexington.”
The pigs have different colors and designs. How are they chosen and where they are placed?
“They can be sponsored. Whoever sponsors a pig, they find an artist and they talk to the artist about what they would like to see and incorporate designs of their business or building and have the pig on display outside their business.”
Why is this so important to the people here in the city?
“It is a fun initiative. When people come into town, they like to see the pigs. If you talk to the Lexington Visitor Center, they say they hand out more maps of Pigs in the City than any other piece of information that they had out. Of course, it goes in conjunction with the Barbecue Festival and barbecue in Lexington.”
