The Cat Care Society (CCS) of Lakewood held an open house last Monday afternoon, February 28, featuring special artwork for their latest fundraiser, “Tails of the Painted Cats.” Featured at the open house were 18 cat sculptures by talented artists from around the region. These fine pieces will be showcased around the Metro area for the next few months before being auctioned off in June.
To help celebrate the 30th anniversary of this cats-only shelter, the CCS has developed this special art fundraising project. Soon the sculptures will make their way to various businesses to be viewed by the public. Each cat has a business or individual sponsor who provided $400 to the artists to pay for the fiberglass cat molds shipped from Chicago and the artist’s materials. The artists then donated their time and talents to create these beautiful cats. The cats stand about 28 inches tall. Some cats are standing, some are sitting and each one is completely unique.
Jane McFadden Dorsey has been a part-time CCS Volunteer Coordinator for 18 years and is a self-taught professional artist. She serves as the Art Coordinator for the project. As an artist, Dorsey specializes in abstract acrylic painting, mixed media collage and Paper Mache pulp sculpture. She is also a member of the Lakewood Arts Council. She has two cats featured in the project. One cat, Georgia O’Kitty, will be part of a public drawing by the CCS.
Each artist put their special touch on each cat. View the slide show to learn more about each cat and the artist who created it. Some artists over the past few months spent a few hours each day painting their cat. Other artists had their creations evolve from their original designs depending on the curves of each mold and the challenges that came with creating a three dimensional piece. Some artists added to the mold creating headpieces and 3-D extras, such as sunglasses, birds and ceramic or glass tiles.
After being on view at the sponsor businesses, on Tuesday, March 29, the cats will make their way to various art galleries in the Santa Fe Art District for their First Friday event. April 30 through June 4, the cats will return to Lakewood at the Lakewood Arts Council co-op gallery with a special reception on May 5. The reception is open to the public and runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The evening of June 5 the cats will be auctioned off at the Green Gables Country Club in Denver. For more auction information and to purchase tickets, call CCS at 303-239-9680.
Tickets for the Georgia O’Kitty sculpture drawing can be purchased in person at the shelter or by phone, 303-239-8680. They are $10 each and the winner will be announced at the auction on June 5. More information on the project and the public viewing schedule can be found on their Painted Cats Facebook page.
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