This autumn 44 giant Snowdog sculptures painted by talented artists and celebrities were part of a ‘pawsome‘ public art trail taking trail-goers on a magical tour of Brighton & Hove. Hundreds of thousands of people tracked the Snowdogs on the trail, more than 400 people an hour flocked to say goodbye at their Farewell event on Sunday 4th and Monday 5th December.
On Tuesday 6th December at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange the beautiful sculptures went under the hammer. The sellout auction was expertly hosted by acclaimed auctioneer Tim Wonnacott who worked the bidders into a frenzy, with bidding hitting the incredible heights of £22,000 for Snowdog Max who was the top dog of the night. Max was beautifully painted by renowned artist Sarah Arnett. Hot on his heels for the top dog space was Boomer, Norman Cook’s Snowdog. Dog lovers frantically bid against each other to take home what Norman Cook described as “the most overpriced, oversized, ludicrous sound system in the world” Boomer sold for a fantastic £20,000.
Project manager Sarah Harvey said: “Snowdogs by the Sea has been an absolutely phenomenal success; we’ve worked so hard on the project for the last year and the reaction from the public has been incredible. We’ve seen fantastic support for Martlets, I think thanks to the project local people understand what hospice care is, which is vital because without support from the local community we wouldn’t exist. The auction was an emotional and nerve-racking evening, Tim did an expert job and he helped us raise such an astounding sum of money. £337,900 will make a huge difference to Martlets.”
More than 9.1k people watched the auction live on the Snowdogs by the Sea Facebook page with online bidding provided by local company Bid Logix.
When the dogs left the streets, there was a public outcry, but at least two pooches will remain in Brighton. OneFamily successfully bid on their stunning dog Bella, winning her for £8,500. Her new home will be outside their offices on West Street so passersby can still drop in to see the sculpture. Process Pup will also stay in Brighton after his winning bid came from a local Hanover community group who crowd funded for the dog, a community vote will decide where he’ll make his home.