Huskies on Parade
Municipalities, the university, local charitable groups, and local businesses such as the City of DeKalb, City of Sycamore, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb County Community Foundation, DeKalb County Self Storage, Upstaging, Custom Stoneworks, Cowpainters, Web Girl Web Designs, and Balcom-Vetillo Design worked together to develop the Huskies on Parade project. The project involved businesses, individuals, and community groups sponsoring artists who created painted designs on plain white fiberglass Huskie dogs. Each artist painted a 40-inch dog and a 20-inch pup. Large dogs went to the sponsor, often to be shown outdoors. The pups will appear in the October 18, 2008 Homecoming Parade to be auctioned off to raise money for the February 14 Scholarship Fund. Rodney Neace took the following digital photos of the Huskies, which are a sample of the around fifty Huskie dog projects:
Huskie Football Fan, by artist Chelsea McGhee, sponsored by the National Bank & Trust Company, 155 N. 3rd St., DeKalb:
Hero Huskie by artist Eileen Balcom-Vetillo, sponsored by the City of DeKalb, appearing in front of City Hall on South 4th Street. Balcom-Vetillo also painted a dog in the image of Paul McCartney wearing a Sgt. Pepper's outfit entitled Paw McCartney for the sponsor Vidicon. Hero Huskie is half Dalmation and half German Shepherd, representing both fire and police. The artist altered the ear on the Dalmation for a realistic look:
The Gallery Director for the DeKalb Area Women's Center, Anna Marie Coveny, works on Corn Assemblage, at the 2008 Corn Fest. She used actual corn kernals to create the mosaic.
Mary Lu and Jeff Strack sponsored Farm Dog by artist Charlotte Rollmann. The first picture shows the dog in its surroundings at 235 W. State Street in Sycamore.
Artist Charlotte Rollman, Professor in the NIU School of Art, painted Huskie Paws for sponsor Sally Stevens. Stevens served as the secretary to six presidents at NIU and is known in the community for wearing gold shoes, which Rollman immortalized in the dog's back paws. The dog stands guard next to the Barsema Alumni and Visitors' Center on Annie Glidden Road.
Rhinestone Doggie, in memory of Bob Freagon, appears next to the Huskie in front of Village commons Bookstore. Freagon worked closely with art students who purchased art supplies at the village Commons Bookstore for twenty-eight years until he passed away. His wife, Sharon Freagon, a retired College of Education professor, decided to sponsor a dog in his memory. Their daughter, Brooklee Norris, painted the dog while visiting from her home in Arizona:
Artist Dan Wiemer immortalized part of Altgeld Hall (the "Castle") complete with images of the famous grotesques standing on the merlons in the crenellation around the top of the tower. Castle View Real Estate sponsored this appropriately named the Huskie, "King."
About This Site
Archives
Candles
Cards
Community Support
Cranes
Music
Photographs
Poems
Video
References:
McGowan, Mark. "How Much is that Huskie Pup on the eBay auction block?" Retrieved October 10, 2008 from: http://www.niu.edu/PubAffairs/RELEASES/2008/oct/huskies-parade.shtml
NIU Alumni Association. "2006 Alumni Awards." Retrieved October 10, 2008 from: http://www.niu.edu/alumni/programs-awards-2006.html
Return