Cows Take on Modern Art

They say art is in the eye of the beholder. How about when livestock and wildlife create the art that is then sold to benefit worthy medical research? Well, I call that art making a difference. The lowly salt block is the medium used to create these modern art pieces - lovingly licked into creation by cattle and deer.
Since 2007 in Baker City, Oregon there has been a unique art auction benefitting Parkinson’s Disease research. The founder or instigator of the annual Great Salt Lick Contest and Auction is Whit Deschner he shares how the idea came to him.
Deschner: “It involved some beer. We were sitting out on a friend’s porch of his cabin. He puts a lick out for wildlife and we just started looking at it and said, ‘Why this looks like some of the art put outside of the federal buildings. Why can’t this be out in front of a federal building?’”
The idea evolved into an art contest of salt licks, then the blocks were sold in an auction with all the proceeds going to the Oregon Heath and Science University’s Parkinson’s Center. Since that first auction, more than $40,000 has been raised.
So Northwest ranchers, do your cattle have some artistic talent? The seventh annual Great Salt Lick Contest/Auction/Benefit will be held on Sept 21st in Baker. Go to whitdeschner.com for more information. Dechner adds
Deschner: “So this year we are putting up a giant salt lick in downtown Baker. It’s going to be four feet high and it’s going to be for Parkinson’s awareness. It ties the cattle community into the art community.”