LAFAYETTE – Thanks to the cooperation of several businesses and organizations in Lafayette, more dogs in the Dog Days of Summer community art project have new homes.

Organizers opted earlier this month to remove the dogs from their outdoor display locations in Lafayette and West Lafayette to protect them after repeated incidents of vandalism and theft. The dogs were relocated to the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette and since then many of them have been placed inside business windows in downtown Lafayette.

Dog sculptures on the Purdue campus had been removed from their outdoor locations even earlier and reinstalled inside campus buildings.

“A primary goal of this exhibit was to make the dogs accessible to the public,” said Renée Mullen, chair of the organizing committee. “We are continuing to do what we can to ensure that children and adults can enjoy these wonderful works of art. We extend our appreciation to the businesses which volunteered to place dogs in their store windows.”

The dogs that remain at the art museum will be on display with a special exhibit of other dog-related art made by local school children and titled Dogs Rule. Mullen says these arrangements will make it possible for members of the public to continue to see all of the dogs whether they are visiting the Purdue University campus, the art museum, or downtown Lafayette.

Additionally, all of the Dog Days of Summer related events are ongoing throughout the summer and early fall and the public is encouraged to participate. Anyone wishing to make their own dog items can join the fun at a special event on Tuesday, Aug. 25 at Uniquely Yours Pottery and Glass. More details can be found on the Calendar page of the web site at www.lafayettedogdays.com.

Members of the public are also invited to attend the Auction on Sunday, Oct. 4, when many of the dogs will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. People will also be able to bid online if they are not able to attend the auction. And one lucky person will win “Psychedogic,” the raffle dog. Raffle tickets are available at the Art Museum and at all Dog Days of Summer events.

After the project kicked off the week of May 4, four dog sculptures were stolen - two have been recovered. Several others were damaged significantly and had to be repaired. Still missing are: “Rembrandt,” which was painted by Sylvia Sullivan Gray, and sponsored by Old National Bank for WBAA, and “Alphie, the Alpha Dog,” painted by Janet Ivas, and sponsored by W. H. Long Companies. Alphie was stolen from the Northwestern Avenue side the West Lafayette Library and Rembrandt was taken from its base on the east side of the pedestrian bridge over the Wabash River.

A reward of up to $250 is being offered by the committee for anyone providing information leading to the recovery of two missing dogs or to the arrest of anyone involved. Anyone with information about the thefts or acts of vandalism is asked to call the anonymous tip line at 765-496-3784.

The Dog Days of Summer community art project was created to celebrate the School of Veterinary Medicine's 50th anniversary and the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette's 100th anniversary. There are a total of 41 dogs in the exhibit, which were placed in locations throughout downtown Lafayette and West Lafayette and on the Purdue campus. The dogs were hand-painted by artists who used a variety of themes.

The Dog Days of Summer builds upon previous sculpture projects in the community: Hog Wild in 2003 and Frog Follies in 2005. This new project was inspired by the School of Veterinary Medicine's outdoor sculpture "Continuum" by Larry Anderson,
which features a dog as part of its array of people and animals in a depiction of the enduring human-animal bond.

Artists from Indiana and other areas were recruited to decorate three-dimensional fiberglass dog forms. The finished dogs were scheduled to be on display through September. Corporations, business owners, veterinarians and individuals have sponsored the individual dogs.

The recently relocated dogs can be viewed in the following windows and lobbies:

Henriott Group, 8 N. Third St.
Legal Aid, 212 N. Fifth St.
Chris Brown building, 514 Main St.
McCord Candies, 536 Main St.
City Hall Mayor’s Office/2nd floor, 20 N. Sixth St.
Regions Bank, 437 South St.
Lafayette Bank & Trust, 250 Main St.
MetLife Home Loans, 415 Columbia St.
Lafayette-West Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau, 301 Frontage Rd.

At the end of the exhibition, some of the dogs will be retained by the sponsors and the others will be auctioned at the public auction on Oct. 4 at the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine. Proceeds from the project will benefit the veterinary school’s 50th Anniversary Scholarship Endowment and its Good Samaritan Fund, and the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette's art education programs.