Arlington Hts. pony back on parade after paint job

A pony in Arlington Heights has gotten a new paint job.

Don't worry, animal lovers. This horse wasn't racing around the track. It's happily stationed in front of an Arlington Heights home.

"Pucci Pony" was part of Arlington Heights' Ponies on Parade public art display in the summer of 2000. At the charity auction that August, Bob Wujtowicz and his wife Candace Machein saw the horse and fell in love.

Wujtowicz said they loved the color statue and figured it could endure the elements outside their home Patton Avenue home.

So the pony that once stood on the grounds of Harper College in Palatine now finds its home in their front yard. But nine years of Illinois weather had finally taken its toll. So this past summer, the couple approached local artist Jennifer Schmidt to touch up their prized pony.

"It was losing some of its vivid colors," Wujtowicz said, adding some of the paint was peeling off.

Bold colors and patterns were the trademarks of Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci - the inspiration of the Harper College fashion design students who designed the pony.

Schmidt said she kept the original design in mind while revitalizing the statue but took her own artistic license, allowing ideas to come to her as she worked.

"I wanted it to be as psychedelic as possible but to stick to the Emilio Pucci design," she said. "I especially like the '70s look of his work."

Schmidt has run Solar Designs, an Arlington Heights visual communications company, for 15 years. She also has a decorative painting business called Maison du Soleil.

Wujtowicz said "Pucci Pony" has become a staple of his neighborhood, since its bright colors really stand out.

"People talk about it all the time because we have a pony in front of our house," he said.