[Exhibition] Pets in The City at New York Historical Society opens October 25th, 2024

Written By Allison Wyper

Hadley Raysor with Ziggy and Sparky, 2015.

Exhibition — Pets in The City

New York Historical Society
(October 24th 2024 to April 20th, 2025)

Pets and the City explores the visual history of New Yorkers and their animal companions over the last two and a half centuries, tracing the ever-evolving relationship between Gotham’s people and its animals as the city grew increasingly urbanized and industrialized. Through a broad spectrum of works of art, objects, documents, memorabilia, and clips from film and television, the exhibition surveys the evolution of pets—from their presence among the Lenape and Haudenosaunee and the hunting culture of settlers through their insinuation into the urban family and onto the pampered pets of today, which enjoy their own public rights.

Drawn largely from New-York Historical’s Museum and Library collections, Pets and the City also investigates the reasons for the soaring pet population, especially after 9/11 and during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as issues surrounding pet adoption, the trafficking of exotic animals, and service animals. Curated by Roberta J.M. Olson, curator of drawings emerita

Allison Wyper
I am an interdisciplinary artist with over a decade of experience providing administrative, marketing, and production support for artists and creative professionals nationwide. I founded Rhizomatic Arts to provide affordable professional consulting, training, and services to independent creatives and small companies. Rhizomatic Arts takes a holistic approach to creative sustainability, supporting the cultural eco-system on a grassroots, person-to-person level, empowering artists to take charge of their own careers within a supportive network of peers. Our Sustainability Network connects creatives with skills and resources to share, via a mutually-supportive gift economy. Our motto: "work independently, not alone."
http://rhizomaticarts.com
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