Walkies: Giant Snoopy sculptures feature in exciting new art trail

Five Illustration students from the University of South Wales (USW) will see their designs adorning super-sized Snoopy sculptures as part of a spectacular public art trail by Dogs Trust.

A Dog’s Trail features a series of intricately decorated Snoopy sculptures, installed across Cardiff, Caerphilly and Porthcawl for the next eight weeks, with each sculpture designed by local, regional and national artists.

The event is delivered in partnership with Peanuts – The creator of the world-famous Snoopy cartoon, Peanuts, and Wild in Art, a leading creative producer of public art events are the partnership behind the trail which will last until mid-June, when the sculptures will be auctioned off in aid of Dogs Trust.

Second-year students Alison Howard, Amy Bainbridge, Hannah Morgan, Elis Mutlu and Megan Hill and graduate Joe Davies were chosen from a shortlist of 13 USW illustrators to have their designs be part of the trail.

Alison, who is originally from Sutton Coldfield, created the Self Care with Snoopy design, which has been installed in Roath Park rose garden. She said: “I decided to incorporate ways that people relax, such as spending time with animals or enjoying nature, and decided to inject a bit of fun by adding in a dog enjoying a soak in the bath.”

Amy, from Wenvoe, Vale of Glamorgan, came up with a design called Quit Dragon Your Feet, inspired by the historical significance of castles and dragons in Welsh history. She said: “I wanted to create something that reminded me of Wales, and I remember being really impressed by the big blue dragon sat on one of Cardiff Castle’s turrets a few years ago.

“So I designed a red dragon Snoopy, wearing trousers that look like a castle wall. It’s installed right opposite Caerphilly Castle, and I can’t wait to see the public’s reaction to it.”

Unique designs

Hannah is originally from Carmarthen and now lives in Cardiff. Her design, Celestial Day and Night is in St John’s Gardens, near the Old Library in Cardiff. She said: “I love celestial patterns and stars, so I combined those with a centrepiece in the middle, using stencils and poster paints to create the repeated pattern which is half blue and half yellow.

“This is my first commission, so it’s a little nerve-wracking to think that the general public will be looking at it!”

Matt Morgan, Senior Lecturer in Illustration at USW, said: “We aim to train ‘real illustrators for the real world’ by engaging our students with live briefs from real clients, and it has been a pleasure working with Dogs Trust and Wild in Art, especially having such an iconic illustrated character like Snoopy as the canvas!

“I’m so proud that we’ve had five students and a graduate chosen for A Dog’s Trail. They were competing against professional artists who have been creating work like this up and down the country for many years, so they’ve done fantastically well to be recognised.”

Rebecca Staden, Project Manager of A Dog’s Trail, said: “Seeing the students’ designs come to life on a Snoopy sculpture has been a joy to see. It means that hundreds of people from across South Wales will get to appreciate their amazing creative talent.

“Illustration students at USW submitted some incredible, unique designs to adorn a Snoopy sculpture in the main trail, which was an amazing opportunity for them to have their first piece of commissioned art out in public, while raising valuable funds to help more dogs across South Wales.”