Who Let the Dogs Out? Come Enjoy the Wonderful Dog-Themed Street Art Now on Display
It's that time of the year again. Nice weather, a great Village to stroll through, and all with some great works of art to brighten your day.
The Saugerties Chamber has once again organized the display of some inventive and fun street art for all to enjoy during their visit to our Village.
There will be a live auction of these art works, to benefit the Saugerties Animal Shelter. The auction will be held at SPAF (Saugerties Performing Arts Factory, 169 Ulster Ave, Saugerties) on September 14th, at 3 p.m. And if you would like one of the artworks to decorate your home or wherever, you can participate in the online auction taking place now. Visit the Chamber website for details.
Saugerties area artists get to show off their stuff on the streets, thanks to the summertime street art displays sponsored by the Saugerties Chamber of Commerce.
Whether it's the horse theme that kicked off this series of unique outdoor art figures back in 2009, or the rocking chairs from 2017 or "Rocky the Owl", the outstanding works of art that in 2022 celebrated the story of Rocky, a tiny saw-whet owl found in the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree in 2020 (the owl’s recovery at the Ravensbeard Wildlife Center in Saugerties made her special to the people here), there is a lot of beauty and creativity throughout Saugerties in the summertime.
Brief History
The 2009 kickoff occurred and was initiated by the team of Beth Murphy (Economic Development) and Nancy Campbell (Town Board), as part of the NY State Quadricentennial Celebration. The idea was to have artists creatively paint and decorate fiberglass horse statues and then display 
them throughout the Saugerties ... mostly in the Village business center but with a few in some outer Town locations as well. The choice of a horse was made because of the popularity of the HITS Horseshows that had come to Saugerties in 2004.
The Saugerties Chamber was invited to participate and along with HITS and other generous donors, funded the project. As the horses were displayed throughout the summer, locals and tourists came to appreciate how they enhanced anyone's travel through Saugerties streets. The best part was, they served to show the abundance of talent in the pool of Hudson Valley area artists that participated.
At the end of the summer, an auction was held as part of a big celebration that took place on the HITS showgrounds. The profits from the auction went to select charitable organizations. And that 2019 effort set the pattern that the Chamber has worked hard to continue ever since that successful kickoff ... with new ideas surfacing from time to time about what the subject of the base to be decorated/painted should be, as described in the following list (most recent year to the 2009 kickoff year):
- Coming in 2025 - Dogs
- 2024 - Hippie buses (part of a 2024 celebration of the 30th anniversary of Woodstock '94)
- 2023 - Standing horses
- 2022 - Rocky the Owl
2021 - Butterflies- 2020 - Butterflies
- 2019 - Sailboats
- 2018 - Sailboats
- 2017 - Rocking horses
- 2016 - Rearing horses
- 2015 - Pedal cars
- 2014 - Lighthouses
- 2013 - Lighthouses
- 2012 - Chairs
- 2011 - Lighthouses
- 2010 - Standing horses
- 2009 - Standing horses
Info about the street art shown on this page:
- "Blue Moon Hoot" (2022) painted by Bill Kimble, former Saugerties Village Police Chief
- "Horsepower" (2010) by Patti Auerbach Morrow
- "Knowledge is Power" (2021) by (Artist not yet known. If you know, please let me know - mcampbell509852@gmail.com.)
- A rainbow-inspired hippie bus (2024) by Mark Smith (Chamber co-president)