All Over Albany

A call to customize Nipper

The upcoming round of downtown Albany public art projects will be decorated statues of Nipper. And the call for submissions is out:

For this year's exhibit, the Downtown Albany BID is accepting submissions from artists who wish to submit proposals to design 36" tall sculptures of Albany's famous canine resident Nipper the Dog. A beloved mixed-breed terrier residing in Bristol, England in the late 1800s, Nipper was immortalized in the 1898 oil painting "His Master's Voice" by Francis Barraud. He became an instantly recognizable mascot for the RCA Recording Company throughout the 20th century, perhaps most familiar to locals via the 28-foot, four-ton statue that keeps guard over the Capital City from a perch atop the former RCA distribution warehouse at the corner of Broadway and Tivoli Street. Celebrating an Albany landmark, a famous American musical icon, and the upcoming downtown Albany dog park, the ten Nipper sculptures will adorn highly visible outdoor public locations throughout downtown Albany's business and entertainment corridors from mid-June 2017 through May 2018.

The BID says the process is open to artists or groups of all ages, and there is no application fee. Selected entries will get a $500 stipend, two tickets to the launch party, and 30 percent of the proceeds when the sculptures are auctioned off at the end.

Here's the application, which includes details about selection process and criteria. The deadline for submissions is May 3 at noon.

This public art series stretches back more than a decade (it was originally called "Sculpture in the Streets"), and has included those large decorated Dutch wooden shoe replicas and the "Play Me I'm Yours" pianos.

The Downtown Albany BID advertises on AOA.