From Court to Museum

By LEAH MATHER
matlea63@pct.edu

WILLIAMSPORT—The Dog Museum by Brad Holland is based on an idea he had for years after his divorce. The acrylic on panel painting is part of an exhibit titled Third Eye in the Gallery at Penn College, and it was created to cover a book.

“I got this assignment for a book called Inside the Dog Museum, and I thought, ‘Perfect,’” said Holland.

He recalls when he was getting divorced he filed the papers at the New York City Supreme Court building. The same building was used in Miracle on 34th Street; he saw it as a “great, old building” and imagined it in 200 years with dogs roaming through it.

“There were all these pillars in this building,” he said. “My idea was horizontal, and it had [those] pillars.”

For his idea, he wanted to paint a lot of “wolf-like” dogs, but the book’s dogs were little pit bulls. Transforming his thoughts meant tracking a stranger, who was walking a pit bull, around the streets one night.

“I just followed them around for a while and visualized the dogs walking and then came home and painted them in,” he said.

For the assignment, his idea also became vertical, and the pillars became more dramatic. “It kind of grew as I went,” he said, remembering.

In the end, The Dog Museum includes a variety of whites, grays, and blacks that stretch up past the canvas, 7 small dogs, and allows everyone who sees it to judge the book by it’s cover.

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Thanks to Leah for being the first to send a writing to the blog! I realize there hasn't been much activity in the last week but I've been down in Philadelphia. Now that I'm back...I'm ready to collect writings for next week's exciting events...check back here frequently for updates.