The Snowdog Art Trails are a series of public art exhibitions of large Snowdog sculptures, organised by Wild In Art from 2016 to 2018. They celebrate the Snowdog from the 2012 short film, The Snowman and the Snowdog, and feature sculptures painted in a wide variety of styles, many of which reflect the area in which the dogs are displayed. In addition to large fibreglass Snowdogs, the exhibitions have also featured smaller Snowpups, decorated by and, after the event, given to local primary schools.
The trails are supported with maps and apps, allowing visitors to keep track of which Snowdogs they've found. For the Ashford trail, visitors were able to enter codes found by each Snowdog into an app, unlocking rewards such as money off vouchers, free pens, and badges.
Aim of the trails
The aim of the trails are to encourage people to explore their local area, spending time in the town or city and perhaps visiting places they wouldn't normally go to. The trails also attract visitors from outside the area, bringing extra money into the local economy. In addition, funds are raised for local hospices by selling merchandise and, at the end of the exhibition, the Snowdogs themselves via auction.
Great North Snowdogs (2016) Over 50 Snowdogs were created for an art trail which spanned Newcastle and Tyne & Wear. The exhibition ran between 19 September – 20 November 2016 and funds were raised for St Osmond's Hospice. A farewell weekend, with the dogs gathered in one place, was held on 2 December to 4 December, with an auction following on 6 December. The auction raised over £250,000 for the hospice, with two dogs (Disco Dog and Guide Dog) fetching over £9,000 each.
This table shows the lots in the post-exhibition auction of the Great North Snowdogs, together with their hammer price and, if known, where they ended up. Details are taken from the live stream of the auction, which is archived on YouTube. Lot Number Snowdog Name Artist Sale price (GBP) What happened next? 1 Arthur Jeff Rowland 5200 Sold to a private buyer 2 Rosa Canina Sue Guthrie Rosa 2500 3 Dog Of The Tyne Jane Headford 4000 4 Mojo Sumit Sarkar 2300 5 Luna Geoff Chappell 5100 6 Sparky David Sith 5200 7 Es Tu Cosa Tristan Lathey 3500 8 Patchwork Jill Barklem 3000 Bought by Mini Moos Farm for public display 9 Guide Dog Mike Clay 9000 On public display in the South Shields ferry waiting room 10 Frostbite Charlotte Mitchell 3200 Bought by Mini Moos Farm for public display 11 Pink Is The New Black Lee Stafford 2800 12 Spocky Dog Hilary Sanderson 3600 13 Snowline Jim Edwards 5800 14 Tails Of The Sea Joanna Wishart 3800 15 Moji (a Snowpup) Edgar Ameti 2500 16 WOOF-3000 Sophie Green 1900 17 Chilly Dog Sally Adams 5000 18 Ziggy Marcus Brown 3800 19 Day Of The Dog Sophie Green 2000 20 Fear Of Emptiness Louise Bradley 2500 21 Snow Angel Of The North Mike Richardson 5000 22 Springtime Joanna Lumley and Sarah-Jane Richards 4100 23 Tails Of The North East David Maguire 2500 24 Addam Upright Time Miness 4000 25 Rocket Dog Amanda Rabey 3300 On public display at the ticket concourse at the Central Metro station, Newcastle 26 Rosy Posy Sarah Jane Richards 5200 27 Aero-Dog Deven Bhurke 3400 28 Psychedelic Snowdog Rebecca Reed 4000 29 Moondog (a Snowpup) Daniel Stone 3600 30 Snowdog Down The Rabbit Hole Heather Penten 4000 31 Hadrian's Hound Catherine J Bell 3000 32 Graffiti Dog Frank Styles 3000 33 The Snowdog Anonymous 5400 34 Mutt Me On The Corner Lindesfarne and Edgar Ameti 4000 35 Tyne Tail Jack Corinne Lewis-Ward 6500 36 Houndstooth Damien Jeffery 3400 37 Wonderhound Illona Clark 4000 38 Rhino The Rescue Leighton Denny 2200 39 Decisions Decisions Decisions Julia Roxburgh 3500 40 Great North Polar Pooch Sandra Jaekel-Bothyart 4000 41 Dog On The Groyne Jenny Leonard 5500 42 Hound Dog Lee O'Brien 3200 43 Essence Of The North Geoff Chappell 2400 44 Spottydog (a Snowpup) Mike Clay 5000 45 Gingerbread Dog Sarah-Jane Szikora 5600 46 Squares Deven Bhurke 3300 47 Rover Codex Ellie Tarratt 3500 48 Gizmo Anonymous 4500 49 Disco Dog Natalie Guy 9200 50 Hiding Lions Helen Stephens 3000 51 Patchwork Northumberland Daniel J. Weatheritt 4500 52 The Dog Father Jenny Leonard 3700 53 Winter Lily Sarah-Jane Richards 3100 54 Wor Geordie Newcastle College 4500 55 Roodle Isy Langhorne 3100 56 Wild North East Jina Gelder 7000 Returned to its sponsor, St Oswald's Hospice, after a fundraising appeal. 57 Rock Dog (a Snowpup) Sarah-Jane Szikora 3500 58 Skipper Joanne Wishart 4000 59 Shaggy Dog Stories Chris Riddell 4200 60 Dogfish Pam Royle 4600 61 The Snowbrador Ruby Cooper 3500 62 Snowberry Simon Tozer 4600 63 SAFC Spraydog Frank Styles 3700 64 Newcastle, United, Inspired Temper Newcastle 8600
Snowdogs by the Sea (2016) While the Great North Snowdogs trail was underway, a second trail was launched at the other end of England in the south coast resort of Brighton and Hove. As with the northern exhibition, snowdogs were placed around the city and they remained there from 24 September to 27 November 2016. A total of 44 Snowdogs and 22 smaller Snowpups were on display. Over 5,000 visitors attended the farewell weekend (held on 4 and 5 December). An auction was held on 6 December in aid of Martlets Hospice in Hove and this raised £337,000. The highest priced dogs were Max, at £22,000 and Boomer, at £20,000.
This table shows the lots in the post-exhibition auction of the Brighton Snowdogs, together with their hammer price and, if known, where they ended up. Details are taken from the Brighton and Hove news website. Lot Number Snowdog Name Artist Sale price (GBP) What happened next? 1 Bow Wow Mike Edwards 7500 2 Rose Deven Bhurke 7500 3 Blot the Dog IownthisART (Jason McQuillen) 6500 4 Roodle Isy Langhorne 6000 5 Koinu Yakuza Soheila Jones 3800 6 Splashhound Lawrence Art Supplies Creative Team 4500 7 Pebbles Joanna Martin 5200 Sold to a private buyer 8 Lola Deven Bhurke 5200 9 Brighton Belle Jenny Leonard 8500 10 Clifton Chalk Gallery 6000 11 Brighton Rock (Rocco) Pinky 4200 12 The Snowbrador Ruby Cooper 5000 13 Newshound Heidi Compton 5000 14 Bobby Katherine Griffin 6500 15 Winter Lily Sarah Jane Richards 4800 16 Merry – Go – Hound Sean Sims 4200 17 Mod Dog Steve Mason 9500 18 Bella Chris Dawson 8500 Purchased by OneFamily Financial Services; on display in their offices. 19 Palace Pup Maria and Patricia Shrigley 5500 20 Patch – The Unfinished Quilt Judith Berrill 5800 21 Dudley Louise Dear 4200 22 Disco Dog Natalie Guy 12000 Bought by Skerritts Chartered Financial Planners 23 Sparky David Sith 8500 24 Process Pup Josh Ford (The Osh) 6000 Purchased via crowdfunding; on public display at Hanover Centre Garden 25 Dave The Dog Totally Dynamic 7500 Sold to the Hove Place Pub, on display in their garden 26 Bone China Gemma Compton 8500 Bought by Bright Blue Wealth Coastal, on display in their reception area 27 Seagulls of the South Kathleen Smith 6500 28 Southdowns Dog Kellie Miller 6000 29 Legal Beagle Kip Devore McCullough 5500 30 Frank Jane Anderson 8000 31 Marty David Halliwell 5200 32 Gizmo Anonymous 9500 33 GRRRace Mik Richardson 13000 34 Smart Vibes Pinky 4500 35 Under the Sea Lynne Bannon 6500 36 Neon Camo Snowdog of Hope Mike Edwards 8000 37 Smiley Sophy Henn 15000 38 Snowman's Nightmare Pure Evil 8000 39 Flower Kai & Sunny 11000 40 Max Sarah Arnett 22000 41 Crush Puppy Louise Dear 5500 42 Horatio – The Bathing Beauty Judith Berrill 8000 43 Boomer RYCA 20000 44 The Snowdog Anonymous 9000
Snowdogs Tails in Wales (2017) The Snowdogs returned for a second year, this time in Cardiff, Wales. A total of 43 Snowdogs were placed around the Welsh capital during the autumn of 2017, with the trail running from 16 September to 26 November. Members of the public were able to view them all together at the farewell weekend of 8 December to 10 December. The dogs were auctioned off on 12 December, with proceeds going to the Tŷ Hafan hospice. A total of £121,000 was raised for the charity, with the highest-earning dogs being Enfys, at £6,100 and Snow Tiger, at £5,100.
This table shows the lots in the post-exhibition auction of the Welsh Snowdogs, together with their hammer price and, if known, where they ended up. Details are taken from the Snowdogs Tails in Wales Facebook page and their main website. Lot Number Snowdog Name Artist Sale price (GBP) What happened next? 1 Dog Bot Mark Chilcott 2300 2 Hus-Quay Rachel Blackwell 2000 3 Starry Night Benjamin Fowler and Heather Penten 2400 4 Snow Business Nat Clements 2100 5 Life's a Beach Emma Everitt 4100 6 Heatwave Andy O'Rourke 3100 7 Pop Pup Damien Jeffries 2900 8 Maple Paul Williams 1900 9 Smileosaurus (a Snowpup) 2500 10 Chocolate Sundae Simon Tozer 2400 11 Hygge Deven Bhurke 2100 12 Enfys Rhiannon Roberts 6100 13 Lunar Rover Mik Richardson 2300 14 Butterfly Coat Sarah Cowan 1600 15 Roodle Izy Langhorne 1800 16 OMG Dog Phil Morgan 2100 17 Snow Dragon Dorian Spencer Davies 4100 18 Baffi Judith Berrill 3000 19 Cedric Pete Fowler 3200 20 Classic Snowdog Anonymous 2000 21 Candy Stripes Lowri Davies 2700 22 Blackberry Simon Tozer 2400 23 Rosy Posy Sarah Jane Richards 2100 24 Oscar Maria Shrigley 2600 25 Me Is Who I Am Gemma Fala 2100 26 Dog With A Bone Gemma Williams 2100 27 RESOLVED George O’Dowd and Phil Morgan 1500 28 Local Lad Dale Edna Evans 4200 29 Plentyn Vikki Cornish 4000 30 That Snow Tiger Emily Ketteringham 5100 31 Sun Dog Seth Oliver 2500 32 Sparky David Sith 4100 33 Big Dog Little Dogs Jim Medway 1700 34 Happy Taffy Traci Moss 1300 35 Honolulu Julien MacDonald 2700 36 Summer Meadow Alison Underwood 4000 37 McCoo Steven Brown 2700 38 Anthem Dale Edna Evans 3100 39 Castles And Dragons Rachel Blackwell 4400 40 The Snowbrador Ruby Cooper 2400 41 Gizmo Anonymous 2600 42 Dino Dog Jenny Leonard 2300 43 Sheep Dog 2100 44 Apple Sourz 2600
Snowdogs Discover Ashford (2018)
The fourth exhibition saw 35 Snowdogs and 19 Snowpups laid out on a 4-mile trail through and around Ashford, Kent. The exhibition ran from 12 September – 18 November 2018, with a farewell weekend taking place on 1 and 2 December. An auction of the Snowdogs and two Snowpups took place on 3 December, raising £142,000 for Pilgrims Hospices. The highest-selling Snowdogs were Doodle Dog, at £15,000 and Bagdogg, at £9,000.
The 35 Snowdogs include designs based on, amongst others, ash trees, from which Ashford derives its name; a Kentish oast house, the Ashford coat of arms, the infinity symbol (invented by an Ashfordian), and a dog decorated by Mr Doodle (Sam Cox).
A protester caused a local uproar when he launched a successful challenge to the location of Infinity Dog, which was placed in the churchyard of St Mary's Church. The complainant alleged that the dog was not in keeping with the surroundings and, after receiving the complaint, the Registrar of the Ecclesiastical Court ruled the dog be removed. It was relocated nearby, but a successful counter-campaign by the Rev John MacKenzie of the town parish overturned the decision. However, there wasn't enough time to restore the Snowdog to the church as the decision came too close to the end of the trail.
This table shows the lots in the post-exhibition auction of the Ashford Snowdogs, together with their hammer price and, if known, where they ended up. Details are taken from the post-auction catalogue.