Do you know about the Caballo de Las Cruces statue at the Doña Ana County Building?
Were you aware its design was inspired by the artist, Vincent van Gogh?
So if you find yourself thinking about the famous Dutch artist whenever you see it, no wonder.
You see, the Caballo de Las Cruces is more than a pretty face.
It has two faces.
What? A TWO-FACED van Gogh-Inspired Horse?
You betcha. And BOTH faces reflect the city of Las Cruces.
The Caballo’s right side is a sunny salute to Las Cruces by day.
On it, you see depicted the Organ Mountains and the Rio Grande. A roadrunner and other Chihuahuan desert creatures are there, too, with splashes of sunset colors.
From the left side, shown in the featured image above, you see some of these same iconic figures. But this time, they’re under a swirly blue night sky and a rising full moon.
So this is Las Cruces by night.
Julienne Hadfield is the local artist who designed the Caballo de Las Cruces. She used Van Gogh’s 1889 masterpiece Starry Night as inspiration for the one side.
Seems the Caballo de Las Cruces represents the city well.
Since the Las Cruces night sky showcases as many stars as van Gogh depicted in his painting, if not more.
Las Cruces is the place for hiking and stargazing. Where there’s something fun to get into outdoors all day long.
