Dog Eat Dog Houses
Sophia Day & Sammy Polinski
Opening Reception: Friday October 24, 2025 6-8PM
Gallery Hours: Fridays 6-8PM, Saturdays 12-5PM, and Sundays 12-5PM
Dog Eat Dog Houses is a multimedia exploration of the Boston housing crisis through the form of the dog house, as well as a reflection on our societal obsession with pet dogs amidst delayed markers of adulthood for younger generations.
The Boston Foundation estimates that significant portions of Bostonians spend between one-third and half of their income on rent alone while all types of housing supplies have dwindled and housing and rental prices have increased. This housing crisis has moved the dream of homeownership, a traditional symbol of the American dream and a marker of adulthood, out of reach for many, particularly those in the millennial and Gen-Z groups. Amidst a myriad of think pieces trying to explain this crisis for the younger generations, one truth has emerged: younger generations love their dogs, treating their dogs like the children they cannot afford to have. The dog market has boomed in conjunction with the housing market, providing purchasing opportunities for our furry friends that we often cannot afford for ourselves - luxury dog houses, fashionable clothes, nutritionally-tailored fresh meals, and avocado toast toys (perhaps the cause of our financial downfall).
As young artists, renters, and dog parents, Sammy Polinsky and Sophia (Phi) Day, feel the acute pulls of the housing market, the weight of societal expectations, and the deep love they have for their dogs, Tofu and Tommy, who inspired this show. With practices rooted in humor and camp, the duo invites viewers to explore this constructed neighborhood, a reflection on both the absurdities of the Boston housing market and the “zillennial” infatuation with our dogs. With contributions from neighbors and community members, this exhibition seeks to encapsulate the stories of Boston housing past, present, and future, to highlight the idiosyncrasies of our beloved dogs, and to offer an opportunity to laugh through the tears we cry when rent is due.
Sophia (Phi) Day is an artist, researcher, and educator from the Chicagoland area who currently works in Boston. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.A. concentrating in oil painting and she graduated with her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Currently, Day is an artist teacher, teaching both studio art and art history courses at several higher education institutions while maintaining a personal practice rooted in humor and feminist interpretations of visual culture. Her work combines academic research and art making in an effort to find cross-disciplinary and cross-historical connections between visual languages and contemporary issues. Her work has been shown in cities such as Nashville, Chicago, and Boston, including her public art work in the greater Boston area, and her 2024 TEDxTufts Talk can be viewed on YouTube.
Sammy Polinsky is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Boston, MA. She received her Master in Fine Arts at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University and her Bachelor of Arts at Dickinson College. She spent the last year as a teaching fellow at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts for the sculpture department, and is currently working as both a Display Artist for Anthropologie and an Interior Design Assistant for Pratt and Deutsch Interiors. She was featured in the Boston Globe’s “Six Art School Starts to Watch” and has shown in multiple exhibitions throughout New England.
