Famous Interstate 25 Art Installation 'Equinox' In Loveland, Colorado, Removed for Road Construction
Published January 13, 2020
Located on Interstate 25 at Exit 257, the 100 foot, 5-year-old locally-made art installation Equinox is being removed and placed into storage during a Colorado State Interchange Renovation Project.
If you are a local or a tourist and have driven by this statue, you can attest that it was undoubtedly a memorable landmark. Equinox happened to be constructed at the exit where two official ‘Best of The Interstate’ destinations are located: Loveland RV Resort, and Loveland Tap and Tavern.
Out of the 124 bids to create artwork for the city back in 2013, local artists Jack Kreutzer, Doug Rutledge, and Doug Erion came out on top. These artists drew inspiration from Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne tribe ‘ledger art’ – a term for Plains Native American narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth. The railroad symbolizes the ‘Colorado Central Railroad’ that arrived in Loveland in 1877.
These artists drew inspiration from the ‘Ledger Art’ of Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne tribes…
Within the horses, you will find a heart – a nod at Colorado’s ‘Sweetheart City’ (Loveland) -, a hand representing the town’s volunteerism and sense of community, and a cherry and sweet beet as a tribute to Loveland’s strong agricultural past.
For the design, manufacture, and installation of Equinox, the Colorado Department of Transportation contributed $163,000 through grants, and the Local Visual Arts Commission contributed $87,000 from Loveland’s ‘Art in Public Places Fund’.
The sculpture can be seen from Google Earth – and casts a very unique shadow on the ground. The original color for the horses was set to be a shade of red, but the Colorado Department of Transportation wanted a different color so that motorists wouldn’t confuse the red for traffic signals while traveling.
Measuring at over 50 feet long and weighing 13 tons, Equinox will certainly require some serious horsepower – and a very large U-Haul storage locker.
