A piece of Lancaster will find its way to the Buffalo Bills’ new stadium this summer.
ART Research Enterprises, a fine art foundry in East Hempfield Township, is manufacturing a family of bison statues, with the largest standing about as tall as three stacked school buses, outside the new 60,000-seat Highmark Stadium for the NFL team in Orchard Park, New York. A spokesperson for the Bills declined to share the cost of the sculptures.
The three stainless steel bison will be the centerpiece of the “Family Circle,” an outdoor gathering area near the stadium’s main entrance accessible to the public on and off season.
The sculptures are the brainchild of sculpture artist Blessing Hancock, whose work can be found around the world. ART Research has previously collaborated with Hancock on several other abstract stainless steel sculptures, which have ended up in Texas, Oregon, Kansas, Illinois and Vancouver, Canada.
In a Bills video last month about the sculptures, Frank Cravotta, senior vice president for stadium design, stood in front of ART Research at 3050 Industry Drive and spoke about the project.
“It’s not the finished project, but we’re getting to a point where … it’s the quality we want, and it’s working,” Cravotta said. “Then we can really start moving forward with building out the three final pieces.”
Gilbane Building Co. and Turner Construction Co. broke ground on the new stadium, across the road from the old Highmark Stadium, in June 2023. Legends Project Development and stadium architectural firm Populous helped create the stadium’s design.
Construction of the new $2.2 billion stadium is 93% complete, according to recent reporting from WKBW 7 News, and on track for the football team to start moving in this June ahead of the 2026 season starting in September.
Todd Starowitz, stadium communications director, said by email that he expects the statues to be installed outside the new stadium in July or August.
A steel substructure and a stainless-steel outer layer will make up the three bison — a cow, a calf and a bull, representing generations of the Bills fanbase. They will stand atop a base, which the construction team has already completed, and the surrounding area will include benches and plaques honoring Bills greats over the years.
The bull statue will weigh about 23,000 pounds and stand 27 feet tall and 29 feet long. The cow will be 22 feet tall and 23 feet long, and the calf 12 feet tall and 13 feet long. At night, the statues will light up with five programmable lighting systems, and the bull and the cow are designed to emit smoke through their nostrils, according to a recent release from the football team.
Caroline Folkenroth-Miley, president of ART Research, said by email that she cannot share more information about the process to build the statues or the timeline since ART Research is under a nondisclosure agreement.
ART Research has worked on plenty of other notable projects, including historic conservation work at the U.S. Capitol, the James Buchanan Memorial in Lancaster city and bronze work at Long Wood Gardens. ART Research made the stainless steel ampersand outside Franklin & Marshall College’s Lombardo Welcome Center on Harrisburg Avenue, too.
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.