we let the dawgs out public art exhibit

This art exhibit has become an Athens tradition. Even as a local, it is fun to try to hunt them all down and take a picture with them. I'd like to make this into an actual "scavenger hunt" someday.

I want instinctively dislike the bulldogs because they represent football, which means so much to a lot of people, but just means terrible traffic and a town full of drunk buttholes to those of us who love the downtown area. However, it kinda gets art into the eyes of people who might otherwise never notice, if only because the art is on the home team mascot. It's something unusual and therefore welcome in Athens.

Loved cruising around the city looking for the Dawg statues and taking pictures of them. So much fun!

We did this as a scavenger hunt with our extended family and it was so much fun to try to find all of them around town. WE made a scrapbook of all the Dawgs so far with the family in it. Pretty funny.

I love art and especially this exhibit! I feel so at home whenever I see another dawg. It's always a nice surprise to see one I've never seen before.

Derivative art pieces -- cows did it best in Chicago and now everyone's a copy artist. this exhibit long ago outlived its charm.

This project of the Athens Garden Club has endured for almost a decade. They are now part of the unique landscape of Athens.

Public art in athens is continues to expand. Kids love the scavenger hunt to try to find all the Dawgs and the different artistic expressions representing a theme, The public bus shelters are other great examples - some of those examples incude a music note and yellow school bus shelters.

Some are just plainly unattractive. This is not art that I find appealing. Just another opportunity to get more public funding for the art community, which it did.

I have lived in Athens for several years and always enjoyed driving/walking past these dog statues, but they have (mostly) been removed. They were auctioned off for charity so the loss was a gain for some, I am just glad we were not told they went to a "farm" to live out their last years.

One of my favorite things in Athens (or should I say 36 of my favorite things) is the "We Let The Dawgs Out" statue display. The Athens-Oconee Junior Woman's Club created a public art exhibit for Athens which features 4-foot fiberglass bulldawgs painted by local artists throughout Athens-Carke County. The purpose of this project was to allow the art industry to give back to the community while bringing recognition of the artists, galleries, and sponsors. Athens became the first city in Georgia to join the national "animals on parade" phenomenon. While other cities such as New York usually auction their statues off after a few months, Athens is proud to announce that the bulldawgs will be a permanent art display. The statues are made with a special clear coating which gives them durability to stay outside.There are 36 bulldawgs on display in downtown Athens, Five Points, Normaltown, Ben Epps Airport and the parks. Each has a clever name which relates to its sponsor or design, such as the "Show Dawg," in the Classic Center or "Sit, Rock, n' Roll Over," which is decorated with names and images of local music phenomenons.