Purdue veterinary school plans 2009 Dog Days of Summer

Lafayette, Ind.

-- The Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine is going to the dogs this summer, when the school teams with the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette to place decorated, life-size dog statues throughout the area in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the veterinary college and the 100th anniversary of the art museum.

The Dog Days of Summer is inspired by the veterinary college'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.

"This art project will further highlight the intersections between animals and people, and art and science," said Kendall Smith, executive director of the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette. "The dogs will not be on display until next year, but artists, sponsors and volunteers are encouraged to get involved now."

As part of the project, artists from Indiana and other areas will be recruited to decorate three-dimensional fiberglass dog forms, which will then displayed in Lafayette, West Lafayette and on the Purdue campus. The finished dogs will be on display from May 2009 through September 2009.

In addition to seeking area artists to decorate the dogs, the steering committee for the project invites corporations, business owners, veterinarians and individuals to adopt a dog for the run of the exhibition for a set sponsorship fee of $2,500 to $25,000.

All sponsors will have their names on a plaque attached to their dogs, and higher-level sponsors will have the opportunity to work with an artist to design their own dogs.

At the end of the exhibition, a few of the decorated dogs will go on the road as part of the School of Veterinary Medicine's traveling exhibit in celebration of its 50th anniversary. Other dogs will be auctioned off to the public on Oct. 4.

Proceeds from the project will benefit the School of Veterinary Medicine's 50th Anniversary Scholarship Endowment and its Good Samaritan Fund, and the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette's art education programs.