Art of the Horse statues head to Economic Visionaries, then auction
![Our Carolina Foothills had workers remove the horses from downtown and the airport on Wednesday. The horses will be moved to Marriott for Thursday's Economic Visionaries event and then will go into storage until they are auctioned off on April 14. Here, workers from Clean Cut Services move the horse named "Dreamer" from Wall Street in downtown Spartanburg. [ALEX HICKS JR./Spartanburg Herald-Journal]](/gcdn/authoring/2019/03/21/NHEJ/ghows-NC-849bdacd-2377-5cc6-e053-0100007f6e80-2febf856.jpeg?width=660&height=413&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Lalage Warrington's Art of the Horse statue has been a fixture on Wall Street for nearly a year, drawing interest from visitors to downtown Spartanburg.
The fiberglass statue "Dreamer" next to Bond Street Wines is among several Art of the Horse statues going to the auction block at Caitlyn Farms in Mill Spring, North Carolina, in April. Before that, the statue will be among three Art of the Horse works on display Thursday night at the Spartanburg Marriott to help celebrate Spartanburg Community College's Economic Visionaries event.
The event will also feature "Princess Royale," which has been on display at the Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport and was designed by Asheville artist Linda Castren. "Four Seasons in the Foothills," designed by Asheville artist Laurie Sullivan, will round out the trio.
"This is our third Economic Visionaries event," Spartanburg Community College Foundation Executive Director Bea Walters Smith said. "It's going to be a celebration of companies and what they are doing and how they are making significant impacts in our community. Over 30 companies submitted nominations."
The event's keynote speaker this year is Mark Bellissimo, who helped bring the 2018 World Equestrian Games to Mill Spring. Smith said SCC decided to showcase the Art of the Horse statues at this year's Economic Visionaries event in recognition of Bellissimo's contributions.
"He's a managing partner for the Tryon International Equestrian Center, and we thought it would be a perfect partnership with Our Carolina Foothills to have the horse statutes on display in the lobby," Smith said. "It's in honor of telling him thank you so much for what he has done."
The three Art of the Horse statues were moved to the Spartanburg Marriott Wednesday night.
Warrington, a Spartanburg artist, took a final look at "Dreamer" Wednesday shortly before it was moved.
"I was very proud it was in a place where my friends could see it," she said. "The theme of the horse was freedom."
Warrington painted on the statue's side, "From the Mountains to the Sea. Born to be Free."
She said she hoped her artwork would find a new owner at the auction who enjoys "Dreamer" just as much as she did.
