Bills' massive bison statues anchor Highmark Stadium's Family Circle in new renderings

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — At long last, they are here. Official renderings of the bison statues — set to receive prime placement outside the Buffalo Bills’ new Highmark Stadium — are being shared as the stadium gets closer to completion to open for the 2026 season.

Bills senior vice president of design Frank Cravotta told ESPN in a sit-down interview about the design process that the attention surrounding them did surprise him. The bison statues and the Family Circle are a part of an area that will be a first welcome to the new stadium, and a spot designed to be used year-round. Here are the basics: The installation will feature three stainless steel bison — a bull, cow and calf — modeled after the American bison. The bull will measure approximately 24 feet tall by 29 feet long, the cow 19 by 23 feet and the calf 9 by 13 feet, each standing on a 3-by-4.5-foot base. There are also a few misconceptions to clear up. The statues were never intended to be the world’s tallest, they won’t be climbable and previously circulated images were mock-ups, not final designs.

So, how did this all come to be?

Creating Family Circle: Early on in the design of the Bills’ now roughly $2.1 billion stadium ($850 million in taxpayer money), an area to the northeast grabbed the attention of the designers. It could have been turned into a parking lot. Instead, they decided to make the spot a front door of sorts for a stadium that has a goal of becoming a year-round destination.

The thought that a statue should be part of that was there as far back as 2022. And while there is a statue of former Bills owner Ralph Wilson outside of the old stadium, this had a pretty concrete general vision from the get-go — bison.

The area will be called “Family Circle,” a nod to “Bills Mafia”– where, as Buffalo native and rapper Benny the Butcher says in the team anthem, “mafia means family.” The plaza will be in the shape of an American bison hoof print.

While the Bison statues have taken the attention ahead of the stadium’s opening, the area will be much more than that.

“One of the things I think is my job is to help exceed expectations,” Cravotta said. “… Why not go from something that is, now that we see how antiquated across the street is, to have something that is incredibly thoughtful?”

The space will have placards with the history of western New York, including the Native American tribes that call the land home, and native plant species will be included.

The area will include dedications to each member of the team’s wall of honor, surrounding the Bison with their history. As to whether former running back O.J. Simpson, whose name remained in the former Bills stadium, will be a part of that, Cravotta said that there hasn’t been a decision and that the design team is preparing for both possibilities.

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Designing the bison: In 2024, the team issued a national request for qualifications (RFQ) seeking artists experienced in large-scale public works. Of 144 applicants, 20 were deemed qualified and advanced to the request for proposal (RFP) stage, where they received additional details and a stipend to create mock-ups. That group was narrowed down to seven.

The selection group — including Bills leadership and Populous designers — with owner Terry Pegula receiving the group’s recommendation — kept the process open to a range of styles, from traditional bronze sculptures to more progressive or interpretive concepts.

“So, ultimately, we chose someone from the middle. Progressive piece,” Cravotta said. “…We have a building that is progressive if you look at it. That is not a statement of art. It’s not traditional. It is a modern and pushing the envelope a little bit, right? And [Pegula] has said it, respect the past and embrace the future.”

Blessing Hancock, an experienced large-scale sculpture artist, was selected. Her proposal stood out for incorporating the team’s brand through the charging elements featured in the logo.

The challenge since has been balancing Hancock’s artistic vision and realism — with much discussion centering around the anatomy — ensuring the sculptures look proportional to an American bison.The statues are currently being constructed in Lancaster, Pennsylvnia, and will be transported the 313 miles to Orchard Park via flatbeds before being installed by cranes.

The bison will feature five lighting elements — including the eyes, nostrils and charges along their bodies — and a carbon dioxide system will create visible mist from their snouts, an idea prompted by Pegula. The statues are also reactive to each other, with the bull designed like it is charging forward, one front leg raised while the cow is leaning toward the calf.

One remaining decision is the horn design, with options including matching sets or a glossier finish.

There was significant discussion on how to make it clear that the statues are not designed for touching. Designers looked at examples such as the structures used around non-lethal animals at zoos.

The bison will sit on a base surrounded by a three-foot ring of rocks, with an elevated platform and inverted stadium architecture forming a fence-like barrier.

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Beyond the bison: Cravotta, a western New York native who has worked on a variety of projects with the Pegulas, described the new stadium as the “project of my lifetime.” He began with the Buffalo Sabres in 2004 — before the Pegulas owned the team — before going on to design the locker room and lead several other projects.

There are many elements to the stadium that embrace the local culture that Cravotta is excited for people to see, such as a miniature version of the Peace Bridge that connects Buffalo and Fort Erie, Ontario.

“The bison statues have been hard work,” Cravotta said. “There’s so many things in the stadium that are fun, that people are just going to really think are cool. And what’s interesting is that no one’s talking about those and I’m saying there’s dozens of things that people will see that are great if you’re a Bills fan.”