When Central School gym teacher Sean Sweeney wanted to create a technology fund for Haddonfield, he knew he needed an uncommon way to attract interest. After witnessing the community-wide support of mascot-centered fundraisers for universities like Virginia Tech and Georgia, he knew he had a solution Haddonfield would embrace.

With the help of the Haddonfield Educational Trust, Sweeney called his public art sponsorship project "Dawg Daze." For $1,500, donors can sponsor a life-sized fiberglass bulldog cast by the Chicago-based Cowpainters, LLC. Local artists can submit proposals to the Dawg Daze project review committee, and those chosen will paint two identical statues: one to be displayed on Kings Highway and another to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

“We thought this would be a source of pride since there’s such a great sense of strength among the schools and the community,” Sweeney said.

Prior to putting the statues on public display, the trust even discussed holding a show previewing the bulldawgs at a local gallery such as the Markeim Arts Center. Among those who’ve already signed up to contribute are the Central School PTA and the law firm of Bisgaier Hoff, but the group is looking to find creative ways to find donors.

“I know Washington Avenue has approached us as a block,” he said. “There’s not really many limits on this, except that we’re not going to put sponsorships on the dogs themselves. Ideas are very open.”

Even though the statues are relatively inexpensive to produce—about one-tenth the cost of a bronze statue—their $1,500 price tag will basically only cover the cost of the materials and construction.

“There will really be no money made until the auction,” Sweeney said. “It’s quite an extended timeline, but it’s kind of dictated by how fast we sell the 12 sponsorships.”

Sweeney said that the project seemed ideal for a town that relies heavily upon the financial generosity of its citizens to help enhance its educational and extracurricular offerings.

“I think it speaks to the dedication and the understanding of the parents in the community of how important education is in Haddonfield,” Sweeney said. “If there’s an opportunity to bring out the culture of the town and the talent of the community, then you have to build off that. They all go hand in hand.”

Brieanne Hauger of Cowpainters said that the fundraising model upon which the Dawg Daze project is based is very popular among nonprofit organizations because it “reaches beyond their normal base into a wider segment of the community.”

Hauger says this type of public art project debuted in Switzerland in the late 1990s when the city created a display of cows.

“In 1999, the model was really big forms, a whole lot of pieces, get the whole city involved, get everybody stirred up and excited,” said Hauger. “I suppose it came out of the initial exuberance of wanting to get everybody excited and involved.”

Hauger said the project not only “introduces this concept of art into the everyday” but also benefits artists who can free their minds “from the sort of art-world apparatus of how to get your work seen,” she said.

“The fiberglass can take on a lot of different forms depending upon your vision,” Hauger said. “There’s all kinds of room for all kinds of expression. It can be a really wonderful outlet for all the artists of the community that you might not have known about; it can be a really good tool for the artist and the community to become familiar with all these different types of expression.”