We, as Woodson Art Museum staff, are all well-versed in the antics and daily routines of one another’s dogs.
I delight in tales of mischievous misadventures. I can identify each choice walk and play area, list favorite accoutrements including bandanas and boots, tell you the relative time investment in a successful snout porcupine-quill-ectomy versus a pet-poison hotline conversation regarding inadvertent coffee-ground ingestion, and describe more than I care to know about the gastrointestinal habits of co-workers’ canine family members.
Water-cooler talk is socially distanced and topics limited to those that can be shared with projected voices along hallways and across office thresholds. With much of “typical” life on pause, conversation about pets provides common ground, different daily tales, humor, and an opportunity to truly help one another through advice and suggestions. I think I can safely say shared pet stories have enhanced our mental health and camaraderie.
Stories about why and how artworks were created and acquired by the Woodson Art Museum are shared in Beyond Artworks: Artists & Their Stories, on view through June 6, 2021. Anecdotes about noteworthy owners and personal relationships are woven throughout stories, too. Visit the Museum and delight in the art and stories. Grab an Activity Guide – or download a PDF from our website – and draw or write a story about collectibles, and learn about John James Audubon’s quest toward accurate bird illustration. Take home an Art Kit for further creative exploration, also available online as a PDF.
And if you have tips to properly train a dog to give jump-free, friendly greetings, let me know; this is a perpetual topic of water-cooler talk.
