The Dog Parade Art Exhibit officially opened for a one-week show at the Chapel Hill Public library on November 13 after making a quick stop to greet 200-plus guests at the Center’s second annual No Limits gala at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on November 12. More than 30 people attended the opening reception.
The traveling exhibit is co-sponsored by UNC PAWS and the UNC Brushes with Life Arts Program(BWL) at the UNC Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health. It is modeled on the successful Chicago Cow Parade and UNC’s CowParade North Carolina. Dogs were chosen as the subject of this exhibit, instead of cows, to honor the Center’s UNC PAWS dog-training program.
The Dog Parade exhibit features 10 dogs and a fire hydrant, all three-dimensional sculptures painted with unique designs by Brushes with Life artists. With mentoring from local artists, each BWL artist created a specific design and named their work. Grayson Bowen, MFA, coordinator of the Brushes with Life program and a BWL artist, painted the fire hydrant.
“We have a number of very talented Brushes with Life artists who painted dogs for the project,” said Bowen. “The project was an opportunity for BWL artists to learn new art skills from mentors and to share their art with the Triangle community.”
“It is a celebration of recovery for artists in the Center’s community mental health program,” he said.
The UNC Brushes with Life Arts Program was created to give local adults living with mental illness a venue at which to display and sell their artwork. Its gallery is housed on the ground and third floors of the North Carolina Neurosciences Hospital.
Watch for the Dog Parade Art Exhibit at University Place, UNC Children’s Hospital, North Carolina Neurosciences Hospitals at UNC, and around the Triangle. The dogs are available for purchase at auction, online. To browse and bid on one of these works of art, go to https://www.32auctions.com/uncdogparade1/ from December 1 to January 15, 2016.
Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Brushes with Life Arts Program and UNC PAWS.
Contact Grayson_bowen@med.unc.edu for additional information.