New digs for New York dog museum
Need some decorating inspiration for your home — and you’re a dog lover? The American Kennel Club will relaunch its Museum of the Dog in New York City, at a new location near Grand Central Station.
The two-storey space is stocked with canine paintings by artists such as Sir Edwin Landseer, Maud Earl and Arthur Wardle. Rare porcelains and bronzes are also in the collection, as well as posters for films such as Lassie and Old Yeller.
One of the more recent items is Christine Merrill’s painting of George H. W. and Barbara Bush’s dog Millie. In all, several hundred objects will be displayed.
On the top floor, there’s a cutting-edge, interactive puppy-training exhibit.
“We have a very sophisticated work where we took a 10-month-old Labrador retriever and put her in a motion capture suit and had her go through her basic obedience drills,” museum director Alan Fausel told the American Kennel Club. “Then we transferred that to a screen where you can actually train the avatar of that dog in real time through voice and hand signals.”
Visitors can also peruse a dog-focused library and step inside a kiosk that takes their picture and matches them with their look-alike breed. An app for children is also available.