Giant Dog Exhibit to Showcase Summer in the Navy Yard

Big dogs are going to find a home in the Navy Yard this summer.

The one-year-old Navy Yard Garden Association announced this week that they have been given the go-ahead to host a public art show this summer that will feature 20 giant metal dogs placed at various locations throughout the Yard.

Robin DiGiammarino, of the Association, said the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) and the artist, Dale Rogers, have partnered with them to bring ‘The Big Dog Show.’

“The exhibit will start in June, but the exact kick-off date is still to be announced,” she said. “It will run through September 10…We started up in 2017 as a group of volunteers who wanted to pick up and get ready for the Tall Ships coming in. That was a first effort and it was successful. That required working with the BPDA and this year (they) engaged us to do something on Shipyard Park. We wanted to build on work that had been done when public art had been explored as an option in the Navy Yard by others before us.”

And so that’s what they did.

They contacted Dale Rogers, who is of Massachusetts, and were able to secure a summer-long installation of his public art installation of large dogs. The 20 dogs are each eight feet tall and 10 feet long and weigh 500 pounds. They will be placed in Shipyard Park and also along the HarborWalk.

“They are fun and they are whimsical,” said DiGiammarino. “There will be 20 of them so we have an opportunity for this to highlight the HarborWalk corridor all the way down to Spaulding…We’re encouraging people to go on the HarborWalk and what better way than have a destination in mind that’s cool.”

The Big Dog Show was recently approved by the Boston Arts Commission, and the BPDA is pitching in to create and pour all of the concrete bases for the dog installations.

DiGiammarino said the installation is one of three main goals of the Association.

They also hope to bring in free Wi-Fi to the Navy Yard parks, and to add outdoor LED lighting in the parks.

“It’s a sleepy place and needs to be revitalized,” she said. “It was designed and constructed about 40 years ago. It’s really time for a facelift.”

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