Horse and Buggy

A mechanical sculpture of a horse, conceived by Gordon Safran and executed by Chris McConnell. The horse is made entirely of recycled steel from junkyards to represent Cleveland's all-but vanished steel industry. Each piece was bent by hand to create the horse's perfect contours. The inside of the horse is built like a complex engine to signify the horse's indefatigable energy, though the engine is housed in a graceful metal body.

At the unveiling McConnell spoke about the importance of capturing the contours of the horse's back and the barrel shape of the ribs saying that those aspects are essential to creating effective art. He said that he would spend hours, sometimes an entire day bending and rebending one or two pieces of metal in order to ensure that every inch of the horse's silhouette looked natural from every angle. Some of the parts used by McConnell to make the horse were: a propane tank, truck leaf springs, a truck drive shaft swivel, three air tanks that would be used to fill a tire, re-bar, implements from tractors, and countless pipes of various sizes.