Rockford Art Museum’s steel horse sculpture, donated by Lon and Richard Behr and created by nationally acclaimed artist Deborah Butterfield, has a new name. Selecting from more than 350 entries, Butterfield renamed the Yellow horse sculpture Yellow Behr. The Montana-based artist made the monumental piece with scrap material from Joseph Behr and Sons in Rockford.
Rockford Art Museum’s steel horse sculpture, donated by Lon and Richard Behr and created by nationally acclaimed artist Deborah Butterfield, has a new name. Selecting from more than 350 entries, Butterfield renamed the Yellow horse sculpture Yellow Behr. The Montana-based artist made the monumental piece with scrap material from Joseph Behr and Sons in Rockford.
Together with the Behrs, RAM invited the community to help name the horse in a contest that ran from November through January 2. The contest was free to enter and open to the public; participants could submit more than one entry. Jerry Franklin won RAM’s Name the Horse Contest with Yellow Behr and will receive a free one-year membership to the museum.
Butterfield said there were so many good names to choose from (she’d even used 10 on other sculptures) but the name she picked struck a meaningful chord with her. “I think it has to be Yellow Behr, honestly,” she wrote to RAM Curator Carrie Johnson. “They [Lon and Richard Behr] have been so good to me!”
“The Behrs’ passion and generosity for our community through their longtime support of RAM is truly remarkable” said Linda Dennis, executive director of Rockford Art Museum. “Yellow Behr will be enjoyed by people of all ages for years to come.”
Rockford Art Museum exists to enrich the quality of life in the Rockford region through art collection, exhibitions, and education. Learn more at rockfordartmuseum.org.
