This nation in this century has pulled thousands of artists from the museums, galleries and universities and plunked their work onto the street corners.

Common objects and icons - fiberglass replicas of corn, for instance - got an artistic makeover and became the curiosities of townies and tourists across the nation.

Cows came to Chicago to start this parade.

Guitars in Nashville, pigs in Cincinnati, peanuts in Dothan, Ala.

Corn in Bloomington.

Perhaps it was a matter of time before someone collected the photos and stories behind dozens of public art displays and assembled them into a coffee-table book. The book's projected arrival is summer. Makers and supporters of the book project have begun taking preorders, for $35 per copy.

The book's title is "American Art Parades (When Pigs Flew, Guitars Rocked, Horses Danced & Cows Jumped over the Moon)." It chronicles 87 public arts projects.

Collectively, the public art projects give a panorama of the nation, said "American Art Parades" co-publisher Karlynn Keyes - from the "Belfast Bears" exhibit in Belfast, Maine, to the "Wild Salmon on Parade" in Anchorage, Alaska.

Such exhibits are labeled "cultural tourism," but Keyes believes it goes deeper. It represents philanthropy, as often the art objects were auctioned, with proceeds to charity, at the close of exhibits.

It shows partnership, with business sponsors, government and arts communities collaborating.

It's deeper still, said Keyes. "We view this as a new American art movement. … In the end, some tremendous art was created."

This movement uses humor - "nods and winks" - celebrates heritage and stresses accessibility to the public, she said. The exhibits exposed the general public to art like few could have imagined at the beginning of the movement, Keyes said.

She is reluctant to name favorites from about 125 exhibits of which she is familiar.

Among the more successful and enduring has been the "The Trail of Painted Ponies." Keyes, a designer and not an artist, collaborated on three pieces for the "Trail" project.

"The Trail of Painted Ponies" started as a statewide exhibit in New Mexico but has traveled elsewhere.

The "Trail" exhibit's aftermath was a popular line of replica figurines, an art book that generated 120,000 in sales, a "Trail" office with five staff members, a consultancy for cities contemplating similar projects, an art gallery at a resort and now the "American Art Parades" book.

She is vice president of The Trail of Painted Ponies organization, and co-publisher Rod Barker is president.

Bloomington's "Corn on the Curb" gets a two-page spread in the book, as do all other exhibits.

"Corn on the Curb" arrived for the Bloomington's sesquicentennial celebration in 2000 and made a second run the next summer. Marlene Gregor headed organizing for both exhibits.

"It's in the spirit of the country that fun and art can go together," she said.

"Corn on the Curb" and the other exhibits candidly were borrowing an idea from Chicago - the 1999 exhibit "Cows on Parade," which itself was an imported concept from a cow-art project in Zurich.

"Chicago Cows on Parade" administrator Nathan Mason still struggles to explain the wild popularity of the exhibit.

But Chicago did have an advantage of being first in the nation and in a major media market, said Mason, who is curator of public arts projects for the city government's department of cultural affairs.

Chicago had a talent pool and it secured corporate sponsorship before going forward, he said.

It also had a connection to cows, even though Zurich cows, not Illinois cows, were replicated.

"Cows work for Chicago because there's enough history that people could create their own narrative," Mason said.

Think stockyards and Mrs. O'Leary's Cow, blamed in urban legend for starting the Great Chicago Fire.

The artists were free to create pieces that had no relationship to cows other than the fiberglass template shaped like the animals.

Chicago's success also may have something to do with its intention, Mason said: It was all about the art. The auction that followed was an afterthought, said Mason, and organizers were amazed when it raised $3.5 million.

This fund-raising result, he thinks, prompted interest in some cities for a blended art-philanthropy project, and that sometimes led to disappointment.

Even when the art was good, he explained, it didn't guarantee auction results.

Nor were some of the templates as interesting as organizers hoped.

He said San Francisco's hearts produced moderate results. And if the idea lacked local relevance - like transplanting the cow parade to New York City - the public didn't necessarily embrace it.

He called Bloomington's corn project "a nice idea, locally relevant. A funny object to artify."

The book already is a year and a half in the works, said Keyes, and she said the Trails group didn't do much filtering. Excluded exhibits were largely a result of difficulty getting submissions, as most people involved in the projects returned to their regular lives after the charity auctions.

But Keyes believes the projects collectively are a lesson in making art accessible and a way to build national unity.

The same spirit of accessibility goes into the book project, she said. A similar coffee-table book would cost up to $75, but the price of "American Art Parades (When Pigs Flew, Guitars Rocked, Horses Danced & Cows Jumped over the Moon)" is $35 to make it more universally available.

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American Art Parades

Color, 9 by 11, hardbound coffee-table book

• Inside: 192 pages, covering 87 public art projects

• Publishers: Karlynn Keyes and Rod Barker from The Trail of Painted Ponies

• Initial press run: 20,000 copies planned

• Preorder: Preorder requested to help the publishers assess need for printed copies.

• Online orders: Expected to be available soon at www.americanartparades.com. Page samples currently are available on the site.

• In Central Illinois: Marlene Gregor is handling orders as a volunteer for the Downtown Bloomington Association. People can make checks for $35 payable to Marlene Gregor, Attn: Corn on the Curb Book Sale. Send checks to her at 107 W. Market St., Bloomington, IL 61701. Make sure to include contact information - including address, phone number and e-mail address - to arrange pickup when shipments arrive.

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Cows, cars and corn

This is the list of public arts exhibits included in the "American Art Parades" book.

• "A Horse Affair", Manchester Center, Vt.

• Adopt-A-Bee Program, "Zion - A Great Place to Bee," Zion, Ill.

• "Animal House Fundraiser 2004" "Bear Necessities 2005," Brighton, Mich.

• "Apples On Parade," Winchester, Va.

• "Around Town Carousels Abound," Meridian, Miss.

• "Art and Sol," El Paso, Tex.

• "Ban Bare Bears," Colorado Springs, Colo.

• "Beastie Beat," Bayside, Wis.

• "Belfast Bears," Belfast, Maine

• "The Big Pig Gig," Cincinnati, Ohio

• "Blackstone Canoe Trail," Pawtucket, R.I.

• "Carousel Horses on Parade," Myrtle Beach, S.C.

• "Cat'n Around Downtown," "Dog Days of Summer," "Downtown Bears It All," "Downtown Summer Splash," Racine, Wis.

• "Chair-i-ty," Reno, Nev.

• "Chairs on Parade," Charlotte, N.C.

• "Chicago Cows on Parade," Chicago

• "Cool City Cars," "Dino Days," "Wilmington Wonderland," Wilmington, Del.

• "Cool Kiddie Cars," Elmhurst

• "Corn on the Curb," Bloomington

• "Cranes On Parade," Kearney, Neb.

• "Custer Stampede," Custer, S.D.

• "Dallas Soars," Dallas, Texas

• "Discovery Dog 2004," "Prairie Dog Quest," Sioux City, Iowa

• "DogNY America's Tribute to Search & Rescue Dogs," New York City

• "Dolphins By Design," Indianapolis, Ind.

• "Dolphins on Parade," Key West, Fla.

• "Ducks on Parade," Eugene, Ore.

• "The Ewe Revue," Rochester, Mich.

• "Fish Out of Water," Baltimore, Md.

• "Frogs-Fur-Friends," Highland, Mich.

• "Galaxy of Stars," Norwalk, Conn.

• "Gallopalooza," Louisville, Ky.

• "Gators on the Geaux," Lake Charles, La.

• "Geckos In Paradise," Honolulu, Hawaii

• "Geese Galore," Longmont, Colo.

• "GoFish!" "LeapFrog!" Erie, Pa.

• "Grants Pass 'BearFest,'" Grants Pass, Ore.

• "GuitarMania," Cleveland, Ohio

• "Hands Across Eau Claire," Eau Claire, Wis.

• "Hearts in San Francisco," San Francisco, Calif.

• "Herd About Buffalo," Buffalo, N.Y.

• "Lighthouse LobStars," North Hampton, N.H.

• "Lions on Safari," Sacramento, Calif.

• "Llamas of Ludlow (2004)," Ludlow, Vt.

• "Magical Giving Garden; Farmyard Friends," Naperville

• "Mastodons on Parade," Fort Wayne, Ind.

• "Mermaids on Parade," Norfolk, Va.

• "Nashville's GuitarTown Project," Nashville, Tenn.

• "No Moose Left Behind," Coeur d' Alene, Idaho

• "Overalls All Over," Cedar Rapids, Iowa

• "PandaMania," "Party Animals," Washington, D.C.

• "Path Of The Bighorn," Palm Springs, Calif.

• "Pawsitively Fredericksburg!" Fredericksburg, Va.

• "Peanuts Around Town," Dothan, Ala.

• "The People Project," St. Louis, Mo.

• "Pigs On Parade," Seattle, Wash.

• "Plainview Cattle Drive," Plainview, Texas

• "Pumas on Parade," Durango, Colo.

• "Salmon in the City," Salem, Ore.

• "Seagull Fest," Salt Lake City, Utah

• "SharkByte Art," San Jose, Calif.

• "Soul Salmon," Chimacum, Wash.

• "Spirit of the Buffalo," Oklahoma state

• "St. Paul's Tribute to Charles M. Schulz," St. Paul, Minn.

• "Summer of Labs: 2001," Sun Valley, Idaho

• "These Boots Are Made For Talking," Cheyenne, Wyo.

• "The Trail of Painted Ponies," New Mexico

• "Trout About Downtown," San Luis Obispo, Calif.

• "Tybee Turtle Tour," Tybee Island, Ga.

• "UnFORKettable Art," Grand Forks, N.D.

• "Urban Trees," San Diego, Calif.

• "The Utah Buffalo Round-up," Davis County, Utah

• "We Let the Dawgs Out," Athens, Ga.

• "Wild Salmon on Parade," Anchorage, Alaska