Lab Days of Summer
By Laura Barmore

On a hot 4th of July holiday weekend, I had the refreshing experience of seeing the most striking Labrador Retrievers I have ever laid eyes on. These fifty-three Labs are part of the Dog Days of Summer, a street art exhibit displayed from May 22nd to September 18th, sponsored by the Pinehurst Business Guild in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

Sherry Mortenson, a local merchant and owner of The Faded Rose in the Village of Pinehurst and Isarose in Southern Pines, was the brainchild and backbone of this whole affair. She got the idea after a visit to Racine, Wisc. where she had previously lived and saw first hand the Dog Days of Summer there. Sherry was also familiar with the exhibit of cows that the city of Chicago had done and the wolves that Raleigh N.C. had used.

Sherry presented the idea of promoting the Village through the Dog Days of Summer to the Pinehurst Business Guild. Unlike Chicago and Raleigh though, the Village of Pinehurst is a small town without much corporate money, making it a much tougher sell. She tried to get all the businesses to sponsor a dog, and was pretty successful with about a 90% sponsor rate. Each sponsor was responsible for the $400.00 cost of the Labs.






The Labs themselves were purchased from a Chicago company called Cowpainters which specializes in the design and fabrication of more than 100 fiberglass animal forms for Public Art projects. These dazzling art-on-the-street projects have blossomed all over the country and have enriched downtown business districts and communities.


















The first shipment of 25 Labs came in January, with the remaining in mid-February. The Carolina Hotel was gracious enough to allow Sherry to use their receiving dock for delivery of the 53 Labs. She was able to get a lumber yard to donate the material for the wooden bases and a local man donated his time to make them.



















Finding the artists was a little bit easier than the sponsors since the area has a lot of animal artists. Mortenson ran ads for artists and some sponsors selected their own artists. The youngest artist was a 16 year old High School student and the oldest was an 83 year old retired advertising graphic artist. Each artist was required to turn in a detailed sketch of their design to the Business Guild before they received their dog. Surprisingly, they didn’t run into any similar drawings, but Sherry did say that a couple of the golf themed designs had names that needed to be changed.




Each artist was then given a stipend of $100.00 to help defray the costs of their work, but in many cases that hardly came close to their overall expense especially when you add up the numerous hours spent. I was greeted by Labs covered in mosaic glass, pieces of fine china, beads, jewels, liquor labels, ones carrying a saddle, golf shoes, tennis racket, golf bags, golf balls, passport, baskets, a fire hose, martini glass and even four legged passengers. As Sherry says, “they took on a life of their own”.

The finished Labs were due back from the artists by April 30th. Each one had to be clear coated to protect the paint and Sherry had to take the Labs in batches of ten to Bill Smith Ford dealership who donated the clear coating. Sherry handled each of these 30 lbs Labs several times before they resided at their place of business.






Sherry also had a friend who donated the use of their tractor trailer for storage of the Labs until the Preview party on May 27th. The Preview party which originally started out to be a preview for the artists, sponsors, town council and media turned out to be so popular that an additional 200 tickets were sold for this catered event. There were four judges that picked the Best of Show, “Tails Required”, winner of $2000.00.








These 53 Labs will be on display in the Village of Pinehurst until September 18th when they will be auctioned off to the highest bidder (absentee bidding allowed, with bidding starting at $400.00). The proceeds from the auction will benefit Animal Advocates of Moore County, Sandhill’s Children Center and The Tufts Archives. An unpainted Lab will also be auctioned off and a People’s Choice Award of $1000.00 will be presented that day too. So if you can make it to Pinehurst, N.C. on September 18th, you’ll enjoy a street fair and take in an auction of 53 of the most striking Labs. (Auction starts around noon) If you can’t make it but would like to bid, you can contact Sherry at: isarose@earthlink.net.