Bulldog Club of America
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The one-of-a-kind collection will reach 120 original oil paintings with the unveiling of portraits honoring the 2025 National winners
EAST PEORIA, Ill. — When the Bulldog Club of America gathers for its 2026 National Specialty, it will bring with it something no other breed club has assembled on this scale: a traveling gallery of original oil paintings preserving generations of National Specialty winners.
The BCA National Winners Gallery is not a digital archive or a collection permanently housed beyond the reach of most members. The original paintings travel to the National Specialty each year, allowing the bulldog community to experience its history together and in person. There is no other traveling collection like it in the world of purebred dogs.
During the 2026 National Specialty, Oct. 24–31 at the Embassy Suites East Peoria Riverfront Hotel & Conference Center, the historic gallery will grow to 120 original oil paintings with the addition of portraits honoring the 2025 National Specialty winners:
Best of Breed — GCHB Karma’s Moonshadow
Best of Opposite Sex — GCH Cherokee Legend Jacib’s Frank Butler
The newest portraits, painted by Jeane TerHaar, will be formally unveiled during the Winners Gallery Reveal and English Tea on Monday, Oct. 26. For the first time, the 2025 winners will take their places beside the generations of bulldogs that preceded them.
The gallery’s origins date to 1961, when an oil painting of CH Cockney Gorblimey displayed at the National Specialty in Oregon inspired Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Savage to envision a permanent collection honoring BCA National winners. The first seven paintings were unveiled at the BCA banquet in St. Louis on April 20, 1963. In 1967, the collection expanded to include Best of Opposite Sex winners.
More than six decades later, the vision behind the gallery remains alive. Each year, the growing collection is carefully transported to the National Specialty, displayed for the bulldog community and expanded with portraits of the newest winners. What began with seven paintings has become an extraordinary visual record of the breed’s history.
“The National Winners Gallery is unlike anything else in the dog-show world,” said Brook Nugent, show chair for the 2026 BCA National Specialty. “These paintings do not simply record the names of our winners. They allow us to stand face to face with generations of bulldogs that shaped our breed. Bringing all 120 original paintings together at the National is an enormous undertaking, but it preserves a tradition that exists nowhere else.”
Founded in 1890, the Bulldog Club of America has celebrated and preserved the bulldog’s heritage for more than 135 years. The National Winners Gallery gives that history a visible and lasting form, connecting today’s breeders, exhibitors, judges and enthusiasts with the dogs and people who came before them.
For longtime members, the gallery recalls familiar names, treasured memories and influential bloodlines. For newcomers, it offers an extraordinary introduction to the history of the breed. For every visitor, the experience of seeing 120 original portraits displayed together demonstrates the depth of the BCA’s commitment to honoring its National winners.
National Specialty judging will take place Monday through Wednesday, Oct. 26–28, culminating in Best of Breed judging Wednesday. The complete National Winners Gallery will be on display during the 2026 National Specialty, offering members of the dog-show community, bulldog enthusiasts and the media a rare opportunity to experience this unparalleled collection in person.
Media contact:
Brook Nugent
Show Chair, 2026 BCA National Specialty
ads@brooknugent.com
262-573-5952
American Kennel Club (AKC)
The AKC Museum of the Dog’s Dog Days of Summer exhibition showcases 20 winning artworks inspired by dogs, on view through September 27.
