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In December 2004, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted the County’s first Civic Art policy, which allocates one percent of County capital projects to civic art. The policy allows for integrated permanent public art enhancements, temporary art commissions, restoration of historic artworks, and the creation of cultural spaces or activities. The Los Angeles County Arts Commission is responsible for the administration of the Civic Art policy. The County’s Art Collection belongs to everyone. If you notice an artwork is damaged, lost or in need of care, please notify the Los Angeles County Arts Commission Civic Art division at [PHONE REDACTED] or [EMAIL REDACTED]. For more information, please visit www.lacountyarts.org. Facebook.com/lacountyarts. Twitter/@lacountyarts ABOUT THE ART Artist Mark Lere’s two sculptures, Floating Dog and Flying Cat, hang overhead in the adoption lobby and gallery of the Palmdale Animal Care Center. The sculptural depictions of these animals provides visual representations of their playful nature that emphasizes the positive emotional connections between pets and humans. The forms for the artwork evolved as Lere listened to animal care staff to learn more about animal behavior and how positive body language is conveyed by animals, notably dogs and cats. Lere used this knowledge to shape the sculptures, choosing to depict instances of alertness, spontaneity and gleefulness. To help Floating Dog and Flying Cat feel like drawings executed in three dimensional space, painted aluminum frame construction and spun bonded scrim fabric, a translucent material, was utilized to create the 12 feet long by 7 feet 5 inches wide floating dog and the 18 feet long by 8 feet 5 inches wide flying cat. Lere uses a foreshortened perspective with larger heads and forepaws that reach out to the viewer as the hind legs and tails fade away into the ceilings and rafters. Both sculptures are internally lit and emit a soft warm glow reminiscent of paper lanterns. Lere has likened the sculptures to larger than life renditions of pets that float by like balloons in Thanksgiving Day Parades. ABOUT THE ARTIST: Mark Lere was born in North Dakota and holds a Master of Arts from the University of California, Irvine. He has taught as a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina; University of Southern California; Claremont Graduate University; Art Center College of Design; and Otis. He is a past recipient of National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship. To learn more about the artist: www.marklere.com Civic Art at Palmdale Animal Care Services 38500 Sierra Hwy, Palmdale, CA 93550 A project of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission Civic Art Program Extraordinary Experiences in Everyday Places