In Focus: Sculpture Walk Dogs Ready To Find New Homes At Auction

“I’m guessing that if you ask the children, this might be the favorite dog. It was down in front of Lucky Dogs during the summer, and almost anytime that you went by there you found families with their children up by the dog, getting their pictures taken,” says Cal Rice, a board member with the Bemidji Sculpture Walk, talking about one of the dog sculptures.

From the streets of downtown Bemidji to their temporary resting spot at the Watermark Art Center, the dogs of the Sculpture Walk are on the hunt for their forever home, and it just might be your home or business.

Rice says, “We ordered a dozen dogs, just fiber glass sculptures. Different breeds, different positions, different sizes and then we invited a dozen of our local artists to come on Saturday morning and pick out the dog that they would like to decorate.”

The Sculpture Walk dogs are currently up for auction. Bidders will gather at the Watermark Art Center next Thursday, October 27^th starting at 5 pm to try and win their favorite pup.

Describing one of the sculptures, Rice says, “For the white portion of the dog, [the artist] took electric wire with white insulation and cut it into pieces and hot glued each piece into place. For the darker areas, he went out and cut twigs.”

The people who walk away with the dogs at next week’s auction will not only be getting a unique piece of artwork – they’ll also be getting a unique story from each dog.

“This is one of my favorite dogs. 200 kids from K-8 at Schoolcraft painted this dog,” says Rice, talking about another sculpture.

You can look at the dogs at the Watermark Art Center all next week. If you do not live in the Bemidji area but see a dog you like, call Stacy at (218) 308-3876 to ask about remote bidding. It’s important to remember all the money goes to a good cause.

“The money that we raise through the auction is used by the Bemidji Sculpture Walk so that we can do this again, and we hope to do it again in a couple of years,” says Rice.