Pooch Portraits: May 17 show and auction serves County’s animal shelter
A baker’s dozen pooch portraits will be sold May 17, along with calendars, in a unique benefit event for the Hood River Adopt A Dog (HRAAD) program, the only facility in the county to board and foster lost, stray or in-transition dogs.
“Artists’ Portraits of the 13 Top Dogs” is how HRAAD is billing the “Art of Bark” photo contest, a heavily-contested competition this winter and spring in which people voted for which of 56 former shelter dogs would make it onto a very special calendar.
Which artist with which dog?
The Art of Barks folks have revealed only one pairing: Cover pooch Atticus and artist Michelle Yamamoto.
Coming to the event, or buying the calendar, provides the reveal.
All proceeds raised at the Art of Bark Event are directed to helping HRAAD cover the nearly $30,000 in annual medical costs incurred by the dogs.
The dog owners nominated their pets and selected after a data-driven voting process guided by HRAAD Fundraising Coordinator Eden McGrew.
“We had thousands of votes, and it came right down to the deadline. Every vote was time-stamped,” she said.
Atticus, a floppy-eared blend owned by Breanne Gratton of Clackamas, is the lucky cover dog.
The dogs, their portraits and the artists who made them will soon be unveiled at HRAAD’s Art of Bark Gallery Show & Auction on Friday, May 17 from 6-9 p.m. at the Hood River Hotel event space in Hood River.
Gorge artists were recruited to create the dog portraits for the HRAAD “Art of Bark” calendar — interpretations, really — and donate the original works for auction, all to raise money for HRAAD and the medical costs of taking care of stray dogs or ones unwanted or voluntarily put up for adoption at the Odell facility.
Enjoy a complimentary glass of wine, light appetizers, the music of Kerry Williams and help raise money for the dogs.
Premiering with the HRAAD 2020 Art of Bark Calendar will be special edition playing cards with the 13 selected dogs.
Silent auction tables are planned as well as a live drawing for the winner of the HRAAD Lucky Dog Winner’s Choice Raffle (details below).
Steven Talbot of Talbot Benefit Auctions will call the bidding as HRAAD auctions off the original portraits.
The cover dog: ‘A natural born diva’
What it means to support the shelter
Atticus is my little dude. I am so beyond grateful to Hood River Adopt A Dog for bringing this little guy into my life.
Supporting the shelter is huge for myself and my husband because Atticus brings so much to our lives. Knowing that donating money to the shelter or sending care packages allows them to continue matching dogs to their perfect families is incredibly rewarding and it is something I hold dear.
What Hood River Adopt A Dog does with rescuing oftentimes neglected or abandoned animals and providing them with so much care, love and safety is tremendous and anything I can do to help that mission and that work continue, I will do.
What it means to have Atticus on the cover
As someone who is competitive and having family who are also competitive, we were all working as hard as we could to make sure that Atticus was the cover dog. It honestly came down to the very last minute of donating and we were pushing people hard to put in those last minute contributions.
The best part of all of it is that the shelter is getting the money it needs and the awareness it deserves.
On a more personal level, we were all ecstatic when Atti won. Atticus is a natural born diva who often poses on command for photos, so it really was the perfect competition for him.
First stop, calendar cover model; next stop, RuPaul’s Drag Race.
When my husband and I adopted Atti, he truly made our family complete — and I am including my parents and grandma, my husband’s parents and grandparents, our siblings, and so on, when I say family. He was the missing furry piece for all of us and he could not be more loved by us, his fan club.
Who knew 17 pounds of fluff could rescue a whole family?
— Breanne Gratton, Clackamas
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