Local artists support local animal organizations

Cat and dog people came together this Saturday to support local animal organizations at this year’s Cat person. Dog person. Whatchamacallit show.

The event, which featured a variety of animal themed artwork by local artists, was held at Argyle Fine Art on Barrington Street.

The show, which is now in its fourth consecutive year, was gallery owner Adriana Afford’s idea. She’s a self-proclaimed cat person with a soft spot for dogs.

“February’s generally been pretty cold, miserable, people tend to go into a little bit of a slump,” said Afford. “It was just an opportunity to have some fun and bring some sort of a whimsical fun show to an otherwise sort of boring difficult month.”

The gallery featured work from local artists who came out to show their support for local animal organizations. Many of the artists have donated a portion of their proceeds to the organizations.

One of these artists is Haley MacLean, the owner of Paw Paints, a personalized pet portrait business.

MacLean painted animals from the Homeward Bound City Pound who are up for adoption or have recently been adopted at this year’s show.

“I just really love Homeward Bound City Pound (link http://citypound.ca/) and all the work they do there,” said MacLean. “So I just thought it would be something fun to do and people would like it – it’s just a fun idea and I love the show.”

The event also featured organizations such as Halifax Cat Rescue (http://www.catsinhalifax.ca), a Halifax based organization that rescues homeless and abandoned cats.

Elderdog (http://www.elderdog.ca) is another featured non-profit organization that supports elderly adults in caring for their dogs, as well as taking care of elderly dogs that are having difficulty being adopted due the their age.

The gallery is diverse. While some people at the show are devoted cat people, others are proud to say they’re a dog person.

Regardless, the event brings the community together to celebrate local artists and the organizations that are working to help local animals.

“The first year was just cat people, and then the dog people were like, ‘Ahh.’ So were like, ‘Ok, fine – we just added them in,” says Afford. “And then last year people were like, ‘What about, you know, hermit crabs? And fish?’ and so that’s where the whatchamacallit came in.”