Art that Speaks for Homeless Pets
Best Friends exhibition at the Senate Rotunda
WASHINGTON, D.C. - If there's one thing most people in Congress can agree on, it's kindness to animals. So senators and congress people turned out together this week on Capitol Hill to support the Best Friends No More Homeless Pets campaign.
At the focus of the event was the Best Friends Art Exhibit, which was presented in the rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building.
At the reception on Thursday evening, Senators Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.) and Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), who are generally on the opposite side of Senate debates, arrived together in a gesture of bi-partisan support, along with Senator Dole's dog, Leader 2.
Artist Cyrus Mejia and photographer Clay Myers of Best Friends worked together on the exhibit. Mejia's paintings explore the perspective of animals, viewed from above, looking up at us. Myers's photographs are "captured moments," showing the bond between people and their pets, portraying each animal as a unique individual.
The exhibition also featured works from the 575 Project, created by Mejia. Last year, between four and five million unwanted pets were put to death in U.S. shelters. The "575" in the title represents the number of dogs and cats killed each hour. Mejia used dog and cat collars, rabies tags, and shelter cage cards from animals killed in shelters to symbolize the unnecessary deaths of companion animals.
"We had a lot of conversations all through the week with senators and congress people," said Mejia. "And we discovered that the issue of homeless pets is close to their hearts."
Clay was struck by the number of senators and congress people who bring their dogs to work. "They love their dogs and it shows the human side of them. There's a park across the street from the Senate building. We met Senator Kennedy there playing with his dogs and, at that moment, nothing else mattered."
This was the first art exhibit in the Senate building to ever make the pages of Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill. Included in the article by John McArdle is this description of 40 sixth graders from Fox Mill Elementary School in Herndon, Virginia.
"As they entered the Rotunda, they began splitting off into groups and excitedly checking out the exhibits and talking about their own pets. Standing among his classmates, Alexander Ramsey seemed proud to point out that his family had two cats and one dog, all adopted from his local animal shelter."
One piece that elicited numerous responses was The Screen of Self-Defense, a pencil drawing of a cat and dog on shoji paper, written with the actual words used by people leaving their pets at shelters.
"This for me was probably the most significant piece in the exhibit," commented one visitor. "I was struck by the idea of using [these] words, and the need for education and more good homes for wonderful animals. My thanks to all those involved in this exhibit, including the members of Congress who provided space and support for it. I hope it will increase awareness on the Hill of the Best Friends mission!"
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