South Suburban Humane Society CEO Emily Klehm says it’s no surprise a display of fiberglass canines recently installed in Flossmoor coincides with the dog days of summer.
“The summer is more of a time when people are out and about and more likely to engage in public art,” she said. “It really engages different parts of the community.”
Klehm said the effort drew its inspiration from Chicago’s 1999 public art display Cows on Parade. Flossmoor’s Dogs On Parade version features 17 statues in two versions — an adult dog standing approximately 36 inches tall and a sitting puppy that is approximately 24 inches tall — in and around the downtown.
Klehm chose the “small but real-sized” blank statues from among nearly 30 canine representations at Chicago-based Cowpainters. She said she chose a Labrador retriever model because it was the most like the mixed-breeds serviced by the SSHS’ managed-admissions shelter in Chicago Heights.
Cowpainters CEO Brieanne Hauger said the design and fabrication business, founded by Nancy Albrecht in response to demand awakened by Cows on Parade, has produced more than 350 fiberglass forms for public display. In addition to dogs and a half-dozen cows, statues include birds, cats, farm and stable animals, aquatic creatures and insects.
Homewood, with 30 statues, raised $10,000 for the SSHS at auction from the first Dogs On Parade in 2017, Klehm said.
Flossmoor’s Dogs On Parade could raise close to that at the Sept. 8 auction, despite having a little more than half the pieces displayed in Homewood in 2017, Klehm said. “The artistic creation exceeds last year.”
Flossmoor Spokeswoman Susan Greenwood agrees on artistry: “There are some really phenomenal pieces of art.”
Homewood’s event also featured a bit of drama, when several pieces were stolen and destroyed while on display.
In a move to reduce the likelihood of that occurring in the 2018 event, Flossmoor’s public works department has anchored each piece into the ground with concrete bolts, Greenwood said.
Participants at both events include the Center for Dental Excellence, Dogs, Cats & Two Chicks, H-F Chronicle, HF-Homes/Coldwell Banker and Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Greenwood said.
As in 2017, the artists — local businesses and individuals — purchased the statues as blanks, paying $325 for a full-sized dog and $275 for a puppy, and then paid for their works to receive a clear acrylic coating to resist the weather, Greenwood said.
“Hopefully, whoever purchases them (at auction during Flossmoor Fest) can put them up outside,” she said.