*Paws Along the River* Story About My City

I thought you all would enjoy this story about my city. I think it will be neat. :)



Paws Along the River to theme city
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By CARRIE KIRSCHNER - The Independent Posted: 02/06/06 - 11:50:29 pm EST

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ASHLAND There were horses in Lexington, pigs in Cincinnati and cows in Chicago. In Ashland, there will be cats and dogs.

Planned for the spring and summer of 2007, Paws Along the River is a public art project in which local artists will team up with individuals and businesses to decorate large fiberglass dogs and cats that will be placed throughout the city.

Paws, according to organizers, will promote Ashland as a river community that supports the arts and has a lot of love and respect for companion animals. It is a joint effort of the Arts Council of Northeastern Kentucky and the Fund for the Betterment of Animals.

Paws will involve the decoration of 35 to 40 cats and dogs. The dog is a 30-inch-tall, 36-inch-long standing Labrador. The cat is sitting and is 28 inches tall and 18 inches wide. Both will have flanged feet to be mounted on wheeled platforms or concrete bases.

At the end of the display, the pieces will be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting both the arts council and the Fund for the Betterment of Animals.

The project is still in its early planning stages. Next month, organizers will begin signing up interested sponsors and artists. Artists will be asked to submit designs to a review committee that will then select artists' works for a design portfolio. Sponsors will select designs from the portfolio, effectively matching sponsors with artists.

Plans are still in the works for the grand opening and closing celebration but organizers hope to have the displays up by April 15, 2007, to coincide with a new Fine Art Festival also being planned for April 2007.

The works will be displayed around the city throughout the summer months - during both Summer Motion and Poage Landing Days. Current plans are to wrap up the display by Sept. 18, 2007.

Trish Hall, executive director of the Arts Council of Northeastern Kentucky, said the organization has wanted to do a public art project of this nature for some time. “We wanted to do something to enhance downtown and get people involved with the arts,” she said.

Last year, the council was approached with the Paws idea by Terry Tomondi and Tonya Meadows, local dog lovers and co-founders of the Pet Betterment Fund. Tomondi got the idea from a similar art project she saw in Fredericksburg, Va. “We thought it would be a good idea to help our fund,” Meadows said.

According to Hall, the project was well received and the two decided to join forces for a mutual benefit.

The Fund for the Betterment of Animals was launched last June by Tomondi and Meadows.

Each month the pair selects a dog from the Boyd County Animal Shelter to have neutered or spayed at a reduced cost by local veterinarians. The dog is then advertised for adoption.

Meadows said the pair hopes the project will help expand the fund, giving it the ability to spay and neuter more than one animal a month and therefore helping to reduce the population of unwanted pets in Ashland and Boyd County.