Hunter The Chocolate Lab posing with his portrait — created by Charlotte Belland — during the official opening of Belland’s “Pets Together” exhibition, a part of the Ohio Art League’s Gateway to the Arts gallery at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport. Credit: Charlotte Belland
Though most airports have planes, trains and automobiles, the John Glenn Columbus International Airport also features dogs, cats and birds — well, at least paintings of dogs, cats and birds.
Local artist Charlotte Belland’s 38-piece collection, titled “Pets Together,” features portraits of real people’s pets — including dogs, cats, bunnies, birds and a horse — from the Columbus community. The portraits will be on display at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport, as a part of the Ohio Art League’s Gateway to the Arts gallery, every day until July 31.
Belland said the free exhibition’s opening reception took place June 13 and was even attended by one of the featured pets, Hunter The Chocolate Lab.
“It’s great because the gallery is in the airport and pets are allowed in the airport, so you can actually have your pet visit,” Belland said. “Just seeing the smiles that happen within the gallery, it’s an amazing thing.”
Belland said that while she had doubts about the project’s ability to fill such a large space, it was much easier than anticipated to find 38 pet owners who were willing to work with her.
“I started with a few people that I knew and they continued to say, ‘Oh, you should reach out to this person,’” Belland said. “It was just this wonderful cascade of people wanting to be involved in the show.”
Collin Castore, Seventh Son Brewing co-founder and owner, said Belland reached out to him about creating a portrait of the brewery’s mascot and neighborhood cat, Horatio — also known as “Assistant Manager Cat” — through the cat’s Instagram page.
“We heard about it through Horatio’s Instagram page and thought it was a great idea,” Castore said. “She is a very talented artist and we love the picture.”
Each of the 38 portraits was created using Procreate, a graphic editing and digital painting software accessible on Belland’s iPad — something she said she wasn’t familiar with until being introduced to the software by her wife along with a former student of hers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started drawing on the iPad and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing,’” Belland said. “Prior to that, I would just draw with ink and so everything was just in black and white, sometimes grey, and the iPad just brought back all of my color.”
Laura Savage, executive director of the Ohio Art League, said the league has been programming exhibitions at the Gateway to the Arts gallery for over 10 years, rotating artists every few months in order to provide opportunities for anyone interested in applying.
“The Gateway to the Arts gallery provides an opportunity for travelers from all over the world to experience the incredible work of Ohio artists,” Savage said. “The exhibitions provide inspiration, connectivity and joy to travelers.”
The process for choosing the featured artists, Savage said, is simple yet effective.
“The Ohio Art League sends out a call for proposals for the Gateway to the Arts gallery once a year,” Savage said. “Then, all proposals are reviewed and selected by a team at the airport and Ohio Art League board members.”
Belland said each of the portraits in the gallery includes a short biography about the pet as well as a call to action that tells airport guests how they can visit the pet themselves or engage in a central Ohio community event.
“I wanted to encourage airport guests to not only read about those animals but then to either go out and interact with the animals or the people who love them,” Belland said.
Belland’s “Pets Together” exhibition is free to all guests and open 24 hours a day. It is located inside the John Glenn Columbus International Airport, at 4600 International Gateway, just around the corner from the ticketing counters near the information desk.
More information about the Ohio Art League’s Gateway to the Arts and about Belland’s “Pets Together” collection can be found via Ohio Art League’s website.