Right around the same time another cool sculpture was being installed in town, a giant dalmatian named "Brooklyn" settled into his new home outside of Safety Harbor City Hall. 

"Save Dog Save!" a 9-foot-tall Dalmatian made from recycled steel by renowned artist Mitch Levin, was installed as part of the city’s rotating art series early Monday morning. 

The piece, a tribute to 9/11 emergency responders, will remain in the spot between City Hall and Fire Station #52 for the remainder of the year; it will then be transported to the nearby SHAMc and become a permanent part of the new art museum. 

“We’ve known Mitch for over 20 years ... and we asked him if he’d be interested in applying for this piece to be part of the rotating art series,” local artist and SHAMc co-founder Todd Ramquist said. 

“He got picked, and he said when the end of run was up he was donating it to the art center.”

Levin, who runs High Voltage Studio, couldn’t make it to the dedication ceremony, so he enlisted Ramquist to handle the offloading of the piece; he and a number of volunteers did just that Monday morning.

Ramquist said Levin was thrilled to learn the sculpture was being housed next to a fire department, since the piece is dedicated to the memory of the many firefighters from Brooklyn who perished in the Sept. 11 tragedy. 

“He always had it in his mind that it would go great in front of a fire department, so when he found out that’s where it was going he thought it was really cool,” Ramquist said. 

After only a few hours of sitting in front of the building, “Brooklyn” is already attracting attention.

On Monday afternoon three women from out of state were posing in front of the pooch and snapping pictures of the remarkable piece of art.

“My husband is a retired firefighter up in Pennsylvania, so I’m sending this photo to him,” Judy Pizzimenti said. 

“The fire station is beautiful, and having this right next to it, I think it’s wonderful.”

Note: Big thanks to Terrie Dahl Thomas for uploading photos of the unveiling to our Pics & Clips Gallery.

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