By Nancy Hassel, American Pet Professionals

The first ‘Art for Paws’ Opening Reception we co-hosted with the Islip Arts Council (IAC) on Friday, May 17, 2024, was a huge success! The turnout of attendees excited to see the incredible artwork featuring pets of all kinds, exceeded expectations.

Since this was the first time we have hosted an event like this, and it was the first time Islip Arts Council had an exhibition solely dedicated to pets, I was not sure what to expect. Although I had a feeling the turnout to see pet art would be a good but I was not expecting it to be so crowded throughout the open. With 46 pet artists who submitted artwork from all mediums, paintings of oil, acrylic, watercolor, sculptures, embroidery, clothing, etching and photography which all depicting pets. Some pets featured were of portraits of the artist’s pet, some were of birds, horses, turtles and of course cats and dogs. The talent of the artists in one room is astounding – and features over 100 pieces of artwork featuring pets, and some wild birds as well.

You can still see the exhibition until May 30 if you missed the opening reception. The Islip Arts Council is located in the Bay Shore Mall next to Dick’s Sporting Goods and their hours are Tuesday through Saturday 11 AM to 4 PM.

A big shout out and thank you to the President of IAC Waldo Cabrera who covered the event and interviewed so many of the artists there. If you didn’t know Waldo is a multiple Emmy award-winning producer, I so appreciate Waldo interviewing the artists there! In addition, we also had local media, the Islip Bulletin there covering the event.

And thank you to Katrina Kaun of IAC who was a tremendous help in bringing this to life, who hung the exhibit, 88 pieces of artwork! Tremendous talent, I can’t decide what pictures may look good on the walls at home! Thank you to the Executive Director, Lynda Moran who jumped on board as soon as I discussed the idea with her. Thank you to Jess, Ed and Harlene and everyone else at the gallery that helped make this exhibit come to life.

Part of the opening reception was to shine a big light on our local animal shelters and the pets there in need of homes. It was so nice to have Shelter Supervisor Teri A. Giacalone of the Islip Animal Shelter, and her husband there showcasing all the pets for adoption and meeting a lot of people that were at the event. I am hopeful their presence and all the animals they had featured on their display will get more people over to the shelter and get some more pets adopted.

Many people were already interested in the next exhibit and I met several artists while there who didn’t get a chance to submit their work, and want to be involved with the next one! Again, if you didn’t make the opening reception the exhibit is ongoing until May 30, 2024.

For more information about the exhibit, please go to: https://isliparts.org/