by Benjamin Dizer ’23 (MarCom Intern) 

Attention all dog lovers! Under the direction of Professor David Zeggert, the students of SUNY Broome’s ART 116 class will be showcasing their “Portraits of Pups” exhibit in correlation with an adoption event at the Broome County Dog Shelter on April 22, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 pm.

When posed with the question of “Who or what should our portrait subjects be,” the class almost unanimously voted for painting animals, specifically dogs. After devoting the semester to learning and applying observational and transfer grid techniques, the students, including the “non-dog people” in the group, began to paint man’s best friends. This project in particular has helped the students to learn how to layer and work with different dry times.

Professor Zeggert specializes in creating vibrant and rich oil portraits that have been and are currently being showcased across the nation. His most recent portrait of Elon Musk was accepted into The Society of Illustrators 60th Annual Exhibition in Los Angeles, California. While Professor Zeggert loves to capture the complexities of the human spirit in his portraits, painting animals has become a fun passion project. So much fun, in fact, that he decided to share it with his students. 

“If we are able to get at least one dog adopted, then this was a success,” said Professor David Zeggert

If you’d like to look into adopting a dog, you can come to the open house and art exhibit at the Broome County Dog Shelter, located at 110 Cutler Pond Rd, Binghamton, NY 13905 on April 22, 2023 from 12:00 p.m. until 3:00pm.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Dizer ’23