See “An Act Of Dog” up close and personal at the Mellwood Arts Center Thursday, February 7th, from 7 pm to 9 pm.
The Project
An Act of Dog is the most profound piece of art I have ever witnessed. I have wept before the Pieta. I have marvelled as I gazed at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the Taj Mahal. I was moved to prayer under the outstretched arms of the Christo in Rio De Janiero.
None of those masterpieces spoke to my heart like this incredibly complex collection of the 5500 portraits-in-progress of dogs, all of whom were healthy and adoptable, but who died due to “no room at the inn.” Their spirits, captured in Mark Barone’s oil portraiture, embody the truth about our obligation to save lives, not take them.
Location
This art for social change is currently housed at the Mellwood Arts Center, which generously subsidized the past two years of labor in space that becomes unavailable on March 31st. Therefore, a new home must be found for Mark’s completion of the remaining 2200 paintings, and a dedicated group of advocates wants it to be permanently installed right here in Louisville, Kentucky. An Act of Dog will serve as a memorial, along the lines of the Holocaust Museum or the Vietnam Veterans wall, to the 5500 dogs killed every day in our country. This conservative total does not include the twice-as-many cats who meet their demise each day nationwide, but they are remembered. It will serve as an inspiring push to become better, more flexible, more loving and more caring people as a whole by encouraging the adoption or fostering of our healthy pets, keeping them from certain death in many U.S. shelters as they are now set up.
The NEED
If there is ANYONE in this town with the wherewithal, the capacity, and the compassion to give An Act of Dog a permanent installation for this planned museum, which will draw tourists and hometowners alike into its transformative pathways, now is the time to step up. Mark Barone has exhausted his retirement savings and is determined to finish this project, here or elsewhere. The economic development potential is limitless. The projected revenues, which will directly intervene to save the lives of shelter animals, are astounding.
The Timeline
Our window of opportunity is closing. This writer has hosted Mark Barone and his partner Marina Dervan on Crescent Hill Radio. Incredible animal advocate Angie Fenton has interviewed the pair on “Great Day Live” and an article is about to go to press in the Voice-Tribune. Tonya Abeln’s article on An Act of Dog can be found in this coming month’s N’Focus magazine. The media is finally picking up the story locally, even though national press has been consistent and impressive for two years, and Oprah’s O Magazine and National Geographic articles are about to go to print.
What You Can Do
Those who have not yet heard of An Act of Dog, please take a moment to go to the website or Mark Barone’s facebook page and learn what it truly is, what it will be, and what it can mean to our city. You can sponsor a single painting for $25. You can participate in the Seven Levels of Kindness and become a Benefactor for as little as $220, contributing directly to the fund for the animals. You can join as a volunteer to assist the artist in his daily work, which often encompasses twelve hours of preparation and painting. You can find a philanthropic acquaintance and introduce them to the urgency and enormity of An Act of Dog.
What It is Not…And What It Is.
This is not about the politics. It IS about joining forces, all of us together, to save the lives of our animals who are homeless, orphaned or lost. Join us – your hosts, Angie Fenton, Tonya Abeln, Wil Heuser and Tara Bassett – at the Mellwood Arts Center Thursday February 7th from 7 pm to 9 pm to absorb the beauty of this art, enjoy fellowship with like-minded Louisvillians, talk to Mark Barone and Marina Dervan, and immerse yourself in the awesome potential of this project. The goal of this showing is to find them a space to finish the project; if it’s the same space it could be mounted permanently, all the better, but the first and critical need is a large area to which we can all help transport the heavy paintings on boards, all the supplies, and Mark and Marina and Gigi and Santo’s living space to another subsidized place in town, so they can complete this life-changing display of beautiful, loving heathy animals who crossed the Rainbow Bridge before their time and without cause. This spectacular work will inspire you to change the way you see things, as it has me. Please. For the sake of the animals. www.anactofdog.org
