It\u27s a Dog\u27s Life

In the spring of 2012, I was awarded the Birkin Owart College of Arts and Humanities Research or Creative Grant. For this grant I proposed making four concrete dog sculptures that I would donate to Ellensburg’s new dog park after their completion. The purpose of these sculptures is to not only designate the area as a dog park, but to bring humor to the park and create conversations between the dog owners. The dog owners are the main audience for these works. Dogs are natural comedians and lend themselves well to my art. I like my work to bring people together and for it to evoke conversations between strangers. Humor is a great way to create that bond. The sculptures represent some of the activities that dogs do in a dog park. Dogs socialize, play, and go to the bathroom. Each is constructed separately and are made in 6 different phases: 1) welded angle iron frame; 2) application and shaping of polystyrene foam; 3) application of fiber cement; 4) wrapping with wire; 5) application of sand cement; and 6) application of sealant. After completion, the dogs will be installed on-site in the park early this summer. Materials: one-and-three-quarter-inch angle iron, polystyrene foam, spray foam insulation, fiberglass fibers, re-bar tie wire, portland cement, play sand, latex bonding agent and sealant