With each new city that finds its animal identity, the message becomes clearer: Public art equals fiberglass animals on street corners. Luckily for Lucky, the St. Clair-Superior Development Corp.'s Year of the Dog Project gives the mass fiberglass gimmick a small-scale neighborhood focus and cultural awareness.

Instead of being a generic symbol for Cleveland, the dogs celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dog, which began in February 2006. On May 23, the dogs made their debut in front of sponsoring businesses throughout Chinatown and the surrounding area.

According to Katharyne Marcus, commercial development manager for the SCSDC, the project's goals are three-fold: educate the community about St. Clair-Superior's Asian population and culture, highlight local artists and the area's growing live/work studio movement, and support local businesses.

Artists submitted proposals in November 2005 that were juried and then "adopted" by sponsors, who got final approval before the designs were executed. The artists received a $550 stipend for each dog.

"Thank goodness they're not dogs because of the Browns," says graphic designer Brian Jasinski, whose "Wok the Dog" is a simple white dog spotted with traditional Asian floral patterns. Jasinski spent time researching Asian patterns before creating his design.

Wok was a gone dog for several weeks: Jasinski's dog was stolen over the Fourth of July weekend, but was recently recovered and will be re-installed soon. And Wok was the project's second stolen canine. Jerome White's "Year of the Dogmation" was stolen from 6701 St. Clair Ave. over Memorial Day weekend. Thefts are common with this type of public art project, Marcus says.

"Going with the Chinese New Year theme is something other cities haven't thought of," says Erin Aleman, whose red dragon dog, "Draco Canis," is stationed outside the Asia Food Market at 3126 St. Clair Ave.

Aleman, who holds a bachelor's in printmaking, also had to streamline her design to create a tangible, outdoor sculpture. Her initial thought was to give her dragon dog spikes running down its back and tail, but she soon realized that such appendages could be easily torn off. Instead, her dog is painted a vibrant red inspired by monetary gifts given in red envelopes during the Chinese New Year. She used Asian-inspired collage papers to create dragon scales.

"This project is a great combination of both neighborhood awareness and fine arts," says Aleman, who is earning her master's in urban planning at Cleveland State. "I'm really interested in how art and beautifully planned neighborhoods can inspire people to enjoy their neighborhoods or visit new places. I think that's key to keeping people in Cleveland."

Along with another urban planning student, Justin Glanville, Aleman leads Emerging Cleveland tours, which showcase the city's innovative new developments (emergingcleveland.com).

Instead of creating Asian-inspired designs (which the St. Clair-Superior CDC encouraged, but did not require), sculptor Ian Petroni chose to represent the neighborhood and Cleveland on his two dogs, fusing a cultural symbol with a strong sense of place.

"I liked the idea of it being a neighborhood art project, so I tried to make it specific to the neighborhood," says Petroni, whose dog entitled "You Are Here" is a map of St. Clair-Superior with factories and houses made out of bricks, rocks and pebbles found in the area.

Petroni represented the lake by painting part of the dog blue and gluing on cut-up pieces of plastic soda bottles that look like waves. "You Are Here" is displayed inside the Josephat Arts Hall at 1433 E. 33rd St.

Petroni's second dog, "Rusty," displayed in front of Grayston Properties at 3615 Superior Ave., is also made with found objects that evoke Cleveland's industrial history. Petroni painted the dog blue and white to look like the sky, and then created wings out of old, rusty pipes. The combination of gentle sky colors and rusty metal creates an interesting contrast, and the dog, which wears aviator glasses, suggests ascendance.

While all the dogs are protected with an auto-body clear coat thanks to sponsor Ohio Technical College, Petroni made sure that Rusty's pipe-wings were not coated so that they would continue the natural rusting process.

"I enjoy the aesthetic of Cleveland, the rusty look of things," says Petroni. "If you look at it with an artistic eye, there's a beauty. I wanted my dog to reflect both Cleveland and that neighborhood."

Many artists expressed how fulfilling it is to create public art that allows artistic self-expression and has a positive impact on the neighborhood.

Sharma Askov, whose gilded dog "Isabelle" stands in front of the Legal News at 4205 St. Clair Ave., says, "[My concept with the gold was] bringing richness to the neighborhood, adding a little gleam of light. I believe Cleveland needs to engage the artistic community. I would love to see buildings downtown painted in brighter colors to add more life to the city. I would love to see more art sculptures that are tangible and mean something to [people]." Askov wishes the dogs could be permanent.

Says Jasinski, "[The Year of the Dog] is clever, but most of all it's an opportunity that allows artists from all different mediums to have this common canvas. I thought it was fascinating to witness how differently each [dog] was interpreted."

"I find [the challenge of making public art] to be helpful," says Petroni. "Instead of just doing what I already know how to do, I have to push myself. I love art that gets off the pedestal. There's so much stuffiness in art so often. I like the idea of it being out there on the street."

And the remaining summer days offer many opportunities to see the art on the street: The project's traveling dog "Rare Woolly Foo," designed by Dick Goddard, will be on display at the St. Clair-Superior Neighborhood Festival on August 19, and at the Sparx in the City Gallery Hop on September 16 and 17.

Verb Ballets plans to incorporate the Year of the Dog Project into its August 10 performance at the Sterling Recreation Center on East 32nd Street. On September 9, the Cleveland Department of Public Health will lead a dog walk, highlighting many of the dog sculptures as part of the "Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound" initiative. The dogs will remain on display until September 18 and then will be auctioned off at Josephat Arts Hall on October 21. The auction is open to the public.

For more info, visit stclairsuperior.org or call 216.881.0644.

Year of the Dog events

Dick Goddard's "Rare Woolly Foo"

St. Clair Superior Neighborhood Festival August 19

Sparx in the City Gallery Hop

September 16 and 17

Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound tour

Cleveland Department of Public Health

September 9

Dog Auction

Josephat Arts Hall, October 2