“The Kelpies” stand nearly 100 feet high in Central Scotland. Scale versions are coming to Bryant Park this weekend.
Credit: Ben Williams
Two 15-foot-tall steel horses are galloping into Manhattan this weekend. Or, rather, their heads are.
Artist Andy Scott will install scale models of “The Kelpies” overnight Thursday in Bryant Park. They will be on exhibit Friday through April 22.
Scott’s original “Kelpies” stand nearly 100 feet high in Scotland and are the largest pair of equine sculptures in the world, costing about $8.3 million to create. They were completed last fall and are to be the centerpiece of a new tourist destination, The Helix, set to open this summer in Central Scotland.
The title for the sculptures comes from supernatural water horses in Celtic folklore. A kelpie is believed to haunt Scottish and Irish rivers and lochs, delighting in the drowning of travelers. (Hopefully this won’t deter tourists, known to frequent Bryant Park and nearby Times Square, from enjoying the sculptures.)
The miniature kelpies will arrive in time for Tartan Day, a celebration of Scottish Americans, and the city’s Tartan Day Parade on April 5.
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