Dog Adoption Event
featuring dogs from
Sweet Paws Rescue
If you are interested in adopting a dog, don’t miss our dog adoption event on November 8, 2025 from 1-3PM. Sweet Paws Rescue will be featuring several of their adoptable dogs in collaboration with Sophia Day and Sammy Polinsky,’s “Dog Eat Dog Houses,” exhibition. Individuals seriously considering adopting a dog should visit https://www.sweetpawsrescue.org/ to complete an adoption application prior to the event to streamline the adoption process.
Meet the Dogs
Meet Rip!
Rip is an absolute sweetheart and his pictures don't do him justice! He can take some time to warm up and let you in but once he does he’s all in! He gets zoomies, runs after the ball and loves playing with toys. He is a great adventure buddy and walks very well on leash and then wants to come home and lay on the couch. He is a nervous dog, especially around new people and men but has been amazing with the young toddler in the home. He loves other dogs and we think he would do best in a home with another dog to help bring him out of his shell! He is also an extremely handsome, very soft and unique looking dog who is worth seeing in person! Rip just just about perfect and is now fostered in MA. Can you give Rip a chance to be your new BFF?
Please know that the vast majority of our dogs/puppies are considered “MIXED”, most made of 6-9 various breeds.
PIANO CRAFT GALLERY IS SPONSORING RIP’S ADOPTION AND WILL BE PAYING THE FULL ADOPTION FEE!
MEET SKIPPY!
Sure, he looks like a grumpy old man who’s survived five divorces and a bar fight or two—but surprise! Skippy is only 3 years young and very much full of life (and opinions). He LOVES everyone—especially kids—and will instantly drop to the ground for a belly rub and will jump in your face for kisses
He was found wandering the streets of Fitchburg like a tiny, unhinged explorer and never claimed. Clearly, he had a home once—he’s mostly house-trained, likes people way too much, and expects luxury accommodations (poolside lounging, oatmeal baths, soft food)
Skippy knows “sit” and is, technically, a gentleman… but let’s get real:
Skippy does not bark. Skippy screams.
Like a banshee. Like a furious baby goat. Like a tiny opera singer having a meltdown.
And when he’s excited? He squeaks like a monkey. The noises he makes defy logic and species classification. He’s got a lot to say, and you will hear it. From down the street. With the windows closed.
He has separation anxiety, so if you leave him—even to check the mail—he will assume you’ve been kidnapped and respond accordingly. Apartment living? Probably not his vibe unless your neighbors are already deaf or incredibly patient.
Also, he’s fast. Like, door-dashing Olympic sprinter fast. He will run away to explore which is strange considering his attachment to people. Skippy is whatever Skippy feels in the moment.
The good news? With a patient, committed adopter who can slowly help him build confidence and independence, Skippy can learn that being alone doesn’t mean the world is ending. Short practice departures, puzzle toys, and consistency will all help. He may never love being alone—but he can absolutely get to a place where he can handle it without the dramatics. (Okay, less dramatics.)
Despite the chaos, he’s incredibly sweet. He likes other dogs, mostly as quiet background characters, and he’ll tolerate cats as long as they respect his personal space and emotional volatility. His true love? Squeaky toys. Followed closely by fetch, which he would play until your arm falls off, and then he’ll demand snuggles—preferably while you’re busy doing something else.
Health-wise, he’s got some allergies (chicken is believed to be the main culprit) that he takes daily medication for along with weekly oatmeal baths, a few janky teeth that will be taken care off, and the world’s most majestic underbite. He may be a little rough around the edges but he’s sweet, snuggly, and an absolute riot once you learn to speak his language (mostly in screams and squeaks).
Skippy is chaos. Skippy is comedy. Skippy is also cuddly, loyal, and weirdly perfect.
If you’re looking for a tiny, toothy, talkative companion with big feelings skippy is your guy.
SOPHIA DAY AND SAMMY POLINSKY ARE SPONSORING RIP’S ADOPTION AND WILL BE PAYING THE FULL ADOPTION FEE!
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.
