Can you imagine a better way to raise funds for the Humane Society of Tampa Bay than auctioning off one-of-a-kind dog houses?
Well, that’s exactly what the Outdoor Arts Foundation is doing through its BowWow Haus project.
It all started in 2003 when Jay Goulde, the executive director of the Outdoor Arts Foundation, was looking for a follow-up project to the Tampa Bay Tour of Turtles.
“One night, it hit me, like a bolt of lightning!” he explained. “I was having a late-night phone conversation with Jan Stein (as we often do), and she told me about some architecturally designed dog houses that she had seen in the Hamptons. Thus the journey began…”
Goulde was able to recruit 40 renowned artists and architects from all over the globe to create pieces that would go on display all around Tampa Bay. Since the project’s inception, a total of 62 kennels have been built.
Last year, the Outdoor Arts Foundation teamed up with Blue Cross for Pets, a United Kingdom charity that cares for homeless pets, to create the BowWow Haus London exhibit.
Affectionately referred to as barkitecture, five of the doggy designs are back in Tampa for an online auction. The available pieces are as follows:
“Dogs Rule” by Eileen Goldenberg