Although she had not been around guide and service dogs specifically, Anna Wilkinson had an idea of the impact they might have on their handlers.
The junior at Ringling College of Art and Design had volunteered with dogs throughout high school, including working with rescue dogs and performing dog-sitting.
“I knew how much these pets can change people’s lives and help them so much, even without the training, so I just think it’s incredible how much of a difference that these dogs can make for people,” she said.
Bringing together students and faculty, while contributing her own work, she led the creation of a showcase of about 20 pieces of art created from photographs of the guide, service and skilled companion dogs of Dogs Inc., and their relationships with their handlers.
The art will be on display during Discovery Day, a behind-the-scenes open house event at the Dogs Inc. campus on March 29.
Pawsitive portrayals
Wilkinson is part of the Lazarus Engaged Learning Assistantship program, a four-year service-oriented program which involves partnering with a nonprofit and creating a capstone project in which students apply their skills toward the organization.
However, another factor drawing her to Dogs Inc. was being a military child, and the fact the organization often helps veterans and family members who have lost a loved one during military service.
“That stood out to me because I would be able to one, work with dogs, which I love, and then two, help out people who were close to me, like military families,” she said.
Nola and guide dog Brizzy by Tiffany Schrauwen
Each artist gets a photograph to use as a reference, without knowing the story behind it. After Discovery Day, the graduate receives their piece of art.
Artists rendered the images in a variety of styles and mediums, but Wilkinson said they have one commonality.
“I think all of the artwork shows how positive all of it is,” she said. “I noticed a lot of students used bright colors and saturated colors and everything is just very happy and exciting, which is something that I don’t know if initially you could just get from photographs.”
Katie McCoy, who joined the staff of Dogs Inc. after receiving her first guide dog Bristol, said an image by Lexi Guthridge, which depicted her relationship with Bristol, took her back to their experiences together.
Bristol now lives with her parents about 10 hours away, while her current guide dog is Quincey.
“I do miss her a lot, but she’s not here, and it just brought up all the great memories that I have with her,” she said.
She noted that in the image, Bristol is licking her face, which she described as “something she does a lot.”
McCoy was born with a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which negates her peripheral vision and causes her difficulty with night vision and depth perception, but she says a new world was open to her when she adopted Bristol.
Kenneth E. Hughes and guide dog Buddy by Anna Wilkinson
She could do activities like visit Disney World, travel and attend concerts, and she said she gained the ability to navigate the world without anxiety and take in what she was seeing around her.
At the time she first left Dogs Inc. with Bristol, she also left behind her resume, eventually becoming hired by the organization as director of philanthropy.
“Seeing the love that they were able to capture in the art… It’s just beautiful to see, to see that put out there, and it really shows that bond and how much our dogs truly mean to us and how much they’re doing for us,” she said.
When creating her art piece, Wilkinson chose to work from a photography of Kenneth Hughes and his guide dog Buddy.
“I was drawn to their photograph in particular, just how Kenneth was smiling. It was just so like a glow, and it was very positive,” she said.
She painted the image digitally with a software called Procreate.
Wilkinson said it was also interesting to see the artwork her fellow graduates produced.
“It was cool to see how everyone approached it, because the photographs were all different, with different colors, and some put their own spin to it, so that was really fun to see,” she said.
Morgan Watt and service dog Foley by George Cwirko-Godycki
She said she hopes people will come away from the showcase inspired to support and learn more about nonprofits like Dogs Inc., as well as the importance of guide and service dogs.
“Maybe they’ll be like, ‘Oh, I want to be a part of that, whether that’s through volunteer time or just sharing about the nonprofit, or even, I think would also be wonderful if maybe people would be inspired to try to make their own projects with causes that they’re passionate about,” she said.
The showcase is not the only collaboration between Ringling College and Dogs Inc. that attendees will have the chance to experience on Discovery Day.
Dogs Inc. also worked with the Ringling Studio Labs to create an audio experience, “Heartbeats of Hope,” which will share stories of Dogs Inc. graduates and their animals.
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