Like many clubs, we needed to look for things to do to get the local community involved and interested in our dog shows and in our dog club; so, I pitched an idea to Arapahoe Kennel Club for a YOUTH ART SHOW AT THE DOG SHOW! Luckily for me, my club is open to new ideas (note: we did host the first-ever National Owner-Handled Series Regional in 2024); and the club is generally supportive of the youth-oriented projects I propose as the Junior Coordinator.
We had our first Art Show at the Dog Show this year, where we received about 100 entries from students from nearby Cherry Creek Schools. We partnered with Cherry Creek because they are in our dog club territory, and because our club Vice President is a teacher in their system, so it made the school communication, etc., smoother.
From the concept stage, we had no idea how many students would participate (submit an entry), and no idea if the kids and their families would venture out to the dog show. We embraced this new project with an attitude of let’s just do it and make it fun!
Overall, it was better than I could have expected for the first year. Of course, we had a few things we had to learn on-the-fly, from getting items to the show to how to display them, and about judging procedures.
I found using the fairground’s “Pipe and Drape” to be an easy solution for displaying items, and bought small black, white, and gold clothespins to hang the items. It was affordable and it worked! For the first year, we did give guidelines for entries to be two-dimensional items only, but we did allow an exhibit of one fabulous foam dog sculpture. Next year we will expand what the students can submit.
The local school art teacher, Erica, suggested we have age/grade categories; and we went with grades kindergarten through second; third through fifth grade; sixth through eighth; and then ninth through twelfth grade. We provided gift cards and rosettes for the Winners and Reserve Winners in each category, plus a Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion, which got an additional gift card and rosette.
The outcome and benefits from this new project include:
We will likely make some adjustments and improvements for next year, things like the entry timing, all items to come pre-matted (that was the biggest hassle, matting things to hang them), adding more than two-dimensional items, probably ordering a banner or sign, and ensuring we get the event into our program and catalog, since somehow that got overlooked.
I absolutely encourage other clubs to consider adding this or something that does help with getting the local community (schools, libraries, senior centers, whatever) involved. And I encourage you to keep it in the lane of MAKE IT FUN!
Anyone who is interested in learning more, just reach out; I am happy to chat and share information.
Marlene Groves
marlene@buffalogroves.com
H 303.621.1111 / C 303.243.0440
